Hyperdimension Neptunia: Age of War
by Bluebottlejr
Summary: Sequel to The Rising Darkness. It has been one year and the Massacre of Haruno Village has left Gamindustri in an awkward state; the people begin to lose confidence in their goddesses, leaving room for the Dark Lord to strike. With new allies and enemies the Shadow Walker returns with a burning vengeance. Darkness has fallen, war is coming. How far will you go for victory?
1. Dark Portents

**Hyperdimension Neptunia: Age of War**

 **Chapter 1: Dark Portents**

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 **A/N: Hey there, readers, and welcome to the sequel of The Rising Darkness! This has been released earlier than I** **thought I would originally release it, but I suppose that is a good thing. Now, this fanfic will contain blood and gore, drama, suspense, supernatural, adventure and romance – a lot more romance which will contain** **slightly** **more lemons than the previous story. There will also be a** **new** **O** **C** **– thanks a lot** **TheCarlosInferno for your OC, your character will be featured in a future chapter so hang on until then.** **Anyway, the first chapter will have some lengthy narrative dialogue concerning what events happened after the ending of** **The Rising Darkness** **–** **oh, and I will not be explaining in detail each and every main character again, you readers would already know what the CPUs, IF, Compa, the Oracles and a few of the main OCs from the previous story look like** **. Also, this fanfic will be updated around once every one to two weeks, maybe three weeks if I'm working on something else. Regardless, I hope you all have a good day and see – or read I suppose – you all next time.**

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An ominous thunder storm broke out across the dark sky of Gamindustri, the black clouds that had gathered in the sky had now and fully blocked the sun, it seemed that no sunlight was to come out and shine over the landmass for the rest of the morning and afternoon. Lightning struck across the darkened sky, the eeriness that was flowing around seeped into the hearts of every man, woman and child, mortal and immortal. The mood was far from happy, instead it was a mixed feeling between anger and sadness. This type of feeling had been around over at least a year ever since the Massacre of Haruno Village, and it showed no signs of disappearing any time soon.

It had been one year since the events of Haruno Village, and events that occurred afterwards did not all go well for the goddesses of Gamindustri, nor for their friends. Within days news of the massacre and destruction of Haruno Village had spread like wildfire across Gamindustri, the effects that happened next were expected and severe. Faith quickly dropped into one of their lowest states that have ever been seen or recorded for centuries, faith for each nation was around four to eight percent each which mean that sixteen to twenty percent of faith was in the CPUs, where the rest of that faith was no one knew. Not only was faith waning but confidence in the goddesses of the four nations was at an all-time low, whenever people saw their goddesses walk down the street or even catch a glimpse of them they would normally glare at them, some would openly voice their criticism, others even spat at them. Not even their well known friends, such as IF and Compa, were not safe from the anger that seethed from the average day citizen.

Histoire had never expected this to happen, in fact she was rather unprepared when distaste for the CPUs broke out over the following months, the tome fairy did not know what to do and in the end could do little to do anything. A few months after the incident occurred a website dedicated to badmouthing the goddesses was set up by an anonymous internet user by the name of 'PinkHacker101' and was used by 'Saviour of Children', interestingly PinkHacker101 refused to do anything else with the site while Saviour of Children devoted their time to slandering the CPUs while talking about saving the children from lies of the modern age. Around a month later came pamphlets informing people about what life would be like without CPUs to rule them, the usual slogan that was used from time to time was: 'Freedom from unjust governance! Hail self rule! Down with the so-called divines!'. It was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before, and no one could have predicted it. No one could have imagined what the destructive nature of the last Ancient and the somewhat secretive return of the Dark Lord could have done to the world.

No matter how hard they would try to redeem themselves in the eyes of their citizens, the CPUs proved inadequate in the job of making themselves look better, in some cases it made things only worse. People called the goddesses selfish, others who knew their history well proclaimed that being under the rule of a mad goddess such as the CPU of Chaos – Cyan Heart – was more preferable than being under the rule of their current leaders. All this talk of change made things dangerous, yet nothing else appeared to be happening that actually threatened the CPUs. However, all of these events did mark a change on the goddesses, especially Neptune and Blanc. Both had been close to Brian the Shadow Walker, Blanc for obvious reasons due to her and him being lovers; the other CPUs were just as affected though.

Blanc became cold and distant, especially after celebrating Brian's birthday without him even there due to the unknown location of the young Ancient, not even Rom and Ram could get close to her without feeling enmity and depression from their older sister, and whenever they would see Blanc she was always peeping glances at the photo she and Brian took in Lastation during one of their dates. Neptune was still like her normal-self and did not seem to change at all, yet more and more she remained indoors by herself with her games, forever staring at the TV screen with deep pools of sadness in her eyes; Nepgear appeared to be a bit better than her older sister and helped Histoire more often with her sister's work.

Vert changed little as animosity towards her and her friends grew, although she did start playing less multiplayer and more singleplayer computer games due to the hostility she received from online players who knew her, she also appeared to be a little more saddened than usual as well, especially when news hit her that she was having problems with her military. Noire, on the other hand, had not become sad or felt ill will towards her citizens, instead the raven haired tsundere had become more stubborn and hard-headed; due to the recent animosity felt towards her and the other CPUs Noire had set it upon herself to rebuild her own image in the faces of the people by working harder than ever, but nothing seemed to work.

It had been like that for the last six to eight months, then a year fully passed since Haruno Village was desotryed. Now, in an attempt to garner more popularity and redeem themselves, the goddesses banded together in a remembrance day sort of event that was to take place at the ruins of Haruno Village. As the rain began to fall across the southern portion of Gamindustri groups of people moved along the dirt, muddy track that led from Planeptune City to Haruno Village, all were wearing black suits and dresses. There were many people who were walking at a steady pace, at least around two hundred to three hundred, all of these people had some sort of relation to those who had once lived in Haruno Village. What surprised a few of them was the fact that the CPUs of all four nations were with them, even a few of their friends had made the trip, including Angel and Plutia – both seemed unaffected by the events of the pass year.

It took hours for the large group to reach Haruno Village, and by the time they passed through the dense woodlands of Virtua Forest and successfully combat the muddy track many were almost prepared to head back to their homes, others just wanted to drop to the ground due to exhaustion, but the muddy dirt was persuasive enough to prevent that from happening. Eventually, when they reached Haruno Village all that could be seen were the ruins of a once vibrant settlement. An unnatural feeling spread throughout out the three hundred or so people who had come to attend the first ever memorial for the ruined village, but no one could shake off the feeling that they were not alone, that something else was around and wanted to get out. No one knew, or had forgotten, about the cave system that had been blocked off during the massacre.

The ruins were all eroded and burnt, craters and fissures littered the ground, debris was scattered everywhere, the very ground was uneven. Large metal fences barricaded the whole village perimeter with one gate that stood where the original entrance had once been, various chains with a large padlock were wrapped around it to prevent people from getting in without the key – the key, incidentally, was kept by Histoire and was in her office. Outside the village gate there was a large slap of white concrete with a small, light purple obelisk with a sheet of metal in the centre, the metal sheet read: 'We shall never forget those who gave their lives in the defence of this village, and we never intend to. May the men, women and children who died here be remembered for standing their ground against the Shadow Walker'. Histoire was the one who designed it; her opinion on Brian was far from good, in fact it was nearly the opposite of her original opinion of him a year ago.

As the overly large group of black clothed people gathered around the small obelisk everyone present saw four figures approach the small monument, the rain ran down their hair, onto their skin, their black dresses became soaked and the rain fell to the ground off of them, yet none of them seemed to care about that. All four of them held water-soaked flowers in their hands, saddened looks adorned their faces and their eyes stared at the memorial obelisk. One of the four womanly figures stepped forward and placed the flowers in front of the memorial stone, the others soon followed. Then came the speech; the first one to place the flowers down flicked her purple hair back behind her and straightened her dress, her blue eyes with power symbol pupils blinked as she coughed to clear her throat. Purple Heart was ready to speak.

"People of Gamindustri, of Planeptune, of Lastation, of Leanbox, of Lowee, I am… glad that you could make it. On this day, one year precisely, did a tragic incident occurred that would scar us all the way until today. As you are all well aware, the settlement of Haruno Village was destroyed by… by a friend of ours. At least, we once was a friend. I need not describe what happened on that dreadful night, but needless to say, our world was never the same again," Purple Heart said in a soothing voice. Her arms were by her side and her head was lowered in respect for the dead. "Today, to mark the first anniversary of Haruno's remembrance we CPUs of Gamindustri have found it fitting to place this small monument here so we may remember all those who fell during that night. May they rest in peace, and may we never forget them. Ever."

Everyone bowed their heads in respect for the fallen once Purple Heart had finished speaking, their eyes stared direct at the ground below them as the rain pelted on their umbrellas, and down their necks for those who did not have an umbrella. Silence reigned over everyone for the next ten minutes; everyone's thoughts were on the events surrounding Haruno Village, well, at least one person's thoughts were. One of the four figures was thinking heavily about Haruno Village, more specifically the one who destroyed it. This figure saw her blue hair fall down over her eyes as the rain drenched her from head to toe, her red eyes with power symbol pupils blinked closed and her black dress – which she found contradicting to her own name – stuck to her body, fortunately for her she happened to be wearing a few layers underneath the dress. The CPU of Lowee stood out, not because of the way she looked but because of her relationship with Brian; everyone knew or had heard rumours about the two of them so when people began to lose faith and confidence in their goddesses it was the Lowean CPU, aside from Neptune, who had the roughest time.

White Heart knew that if she stayed in the rain without any source of warmth she would catch a cold, but that was not likely to happen any time soon – after all, she was the ruling goddess of the coldest nation in all of Gamindustri, and her choice of clothing was hardly anything but snug and warm. However, White Heart's thoughts were on a certain someone she loved, and hated. The Loweean CPU sighed silently and clenched her fists tightly. _It pains me that I'm the only one who knew what was truly going on here on that fateful night: the return of the Dark Lord, the deaths of the Dark Captains and the massacre of those who had put their faith in that abomination. Still, what Brian did was unjust, even if they were all guilty._

After the ten minutes were up everyone raised their heads and stared at the village ruins, none of them really knew what to do next. In the end people began to disperse after placing their flowers by the stone obelisk, some others decided to stick around for a while longer to stare at the ruins or talk to themselves about certain topics of interest. The mood, despite still being grim, began to look up as the rain disappeared, yet the clouds and thunder did not. By the time it reach half past four in the afternoon – the memorial ceremony took place at some point in the morning – at least half of the three hundred or so people had already left, dozens more were already ready to head back to their homes, a few others were still standing around, what they were thinking was unknown.

Meanwhile, no one came to visit the CPUs, except for the small number of friends that they had already made prior to these events. Leaning up against a tree was Green Heart, her arms were crossed underneath her large breasts and her narrowed eyes were staring at a small group of people who were nearby; the CPU of Leanbox could hear them talking about something regarding the current situation the CPUs were in, and it did not sound good. The Leanboxian CPU sighed and looked over to her left where she saw a few of her comrades approaching, she gave them a small smile and a wave as they neared her. Green Heart locked eyes with Purple Heart and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Are you okay after that speech?" she asked her. "It sounded as if you were at a loss for words then."

The Planeptunian goddess gave her friend a smile in return. "I'm fine, Vert, thanks for you concern though. I just had a little trouble remembering the words is all, spent almost all night trying to memorise them with Nepgear helping me." She then turned over to her younger sister and clasped a hand over her left shoulder. "Thanks for helping me out."

Purple Sister beamed a bright smile back at Purple Heart, she was excited that her older sister had praised her for helping, it was not a usual thing to happen with all that had occurred over the last year. "Your welcome, Neptune. Just try not to strain yourself too much, alright?"

"Heh, I barely do any work so I wouldn't be saying that if I were you. Perhaps I should do some work to lighten up yours and Histoire's workload, it would make me feel less guilty," the goddess of Planeptune said, leaning up against a tree beside Green Heart. Her attention was caught by the sudden approach of Black Heart and Black Sister, the eldest of the two appeared to have heard what her comrades had been talking about and had something to say about it.

"Well it's about damn time you decided to do some work, Neptune," Black Heart said, voicing her opinion about the purple goddess. "You should try to be a lot more like me, not only am I just a great goddess but I work hard every day. You could learn a few things from me."

Purple Heart raised an eyebrow and stared at Black Heart in a questioning way before sighing. "I'm sorry, Noire, but I don't think I would learn anything. Not because I am a bad learner, but because I doubt you would make a good teacher, no offence or anything though." It was surprising for people to see Purple Heart behaving seriously, although she did seem sincere about it. "I am sorry, Noire. However, you could learn to liven up a bit and actually try to have some fun, you're going to work yourself to death if you keep up like this, not to mention that you're more hard-headed than ever."

"And is that a bad thing? Hmph. Whatever. At least I'm not a distant and cold person, like a certain someone." The Lastation goddess then glanced around and stared directly towards White Heart, who happened to be walking past them. The Loweean CPU stopped and glanced around at Black Heart, her eyes seemed to pierce through the souls of everyone who saw her. As White Heart continued on her way to a different part of the area the silver haired CPU sighed and looked back at Purple Heart. "See what I mean? Be glad that I'm not a stuck up bitch like her."

"That's rich, coming from you," Wolf Heart said casually as he and Iris Heart passed by her. As Black Heart stammered and growled at the wolf-like CPU both he and the large breasted sadist stopped and glanced back at the group. "By the way, we're heading back now. I don't think Peashy appreciates being left behind on days like these you know. Catch up soon."

"Right, we'll see you soon, Angel and Sadie," Purple Heart responded giving them a wave.

The two sadomasochists smiled at the group as the walked off back down the muddy track to Planeptune City alone leaving the rest of the CPUs and their human friends behind to mingle amongst themselves. It was clear that, despite all that had happened over the pat year, Angel and Plutia – as they were known – were very close and had hardly changed, although they had been trying to keep Neptune's spirits up, which was a hard task to accomplish. The two of them had usually spent their days just lazing around or playing games, or – in Angel's case – trying to invent the greatest, tastiest blueberry muffin ever known to Gamindustri, all attempts to do so just resulted in the kitchen getting half destroyed. However, one point of interest for everyone was how Peashy looked up to Angel, seeing him as a big brother figure.

Wolf Heart stretched his arms out and cracked his neck, sighing in relief. "Ah, that felt good," the bluish purple haired CPU said, scratching his back. He then glanced over at Iris Heart, the sadomasochistic goddess' black dress was sticking onto her skin and, unlike White Heart, she was not wearing much underneath. It set his mind racing with all sorts of thoughts.

Iris Heart noticed the stare and smiled seductively at her lover; she always enjoyed seeing Wolf Heart – or Angel if he was in human form – look at her in such a way, it always made her blood pump faster and her thoughts more lewd. Although, that was only in HDD form, in human form she was slightly oblivious to it. Regardless, Iris Heart purred and wrapped her arms around Wolf's right arm, bringing it in between her voluptuous breasts. "Come on now, I love it when you stare at me like that. I know you want to tear my wet, soaking clothes off. You know, I just might let you," Iris seductively informed the young man.

Wolf Heart grinned, showing his unusually sharp teeth. "Be careful what you wish for, I just might take you up on your offer you know." Then they began to chuckle in each other's embrace as the two of them were surrounded by a bright light, as the light died away it revealed the two sadists in their HDD uniforms and processor units. They then flew into the air and made their way back to the Planeptune Basilicom, their teasing time had ended. Along the way Iris noticed that Wolf was lost in thought.

"What are you thinking so hard about, Angie?" the dark purple haired woman asked as she flew right next to her lover, both ignored the lightning that thundered around them.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing much. I was just thinking about why Peashy likes me so much, it's kinda weird that she sees me as a big brother," Wolf replied, glancing back at Iris. "Is it something to worry about, right?"

Iris Heart shook her head. "No, there's no reason to worry about it. Actually, I think it's sweet that you're looking after her while she and I are stuck in this dimension, it's no wonder she looks up to you as a big brother figure. You should be proud of yourself for that."

Wolf looked at Iris as if she was a crazy lunatic. "You serious? I'm not so sure that it's a good idea for someone like her to look up to me as a big brother. Take a look at what happened to Rom and Ram when they declared Brian as their big brother. Well, nothing much happened, but they were overly attached to him, so when he disappeared they went into sulking mode. I can't imagine what Peashy would become if that happened with me."

"You'll be fine, trust me. I've taken care of her for a long time now, and while she may have had a hard upbringing she had turned out pretty well. You'll be fine, you have lasted this long with her around so you must be doing something right."

Wolf Heart sighed and looked ahead as the Planeptune Basilicom came into sight. "Yeah, guess you're right. Want to play a game while we wait for the others to return?"

Iris Heart giggled and kissed Wolf's right cheek, looking at him with a caring expression. "Very well then, I will take you up on your offer, though I would have preferred to have had some fun first, but I will admit that being in this form nearly all day does tire me out. I guess Peashy would probably want to play with us as well."

Wolf nodded, his usual expressionless face remained just that, expressionless. Although a small smile was trying to creep up over it. "Yeah, I suppose so. That wouldn't be bad, but it is troublesome as she isn't good at playing games, she just breaks things." That made Iris Heart laugh, which in turn made the wolf-like god smile internally, it made him happy to see her laugh and smile like that despite the day being grim.

Then something odd happened. Wolf Heart began to feel a tinge of pain developing inside him, he growled and rubbed his chest in an attempt to get rid of it. The sadomasochistic CPU from the Ultradimension looked at her lover and stared questioningly at him, yet decided not to ask him about it. He would, after all, dismiss her concerns and forget that it ever happened. This sort of thing had occurred before, in fact it had been going on for the last few months, and it always happened whenever he was in HDD. Iris Heart had no idea what was wrong with him, but eventually she knew that Wolf Heart would have to face it.

Meanwhile, back at the ruins of the village, things were not looking too well. As more and more people began to make the journey back to their homes- including Compa, IF and Victor after they said their goodbyes to the goddesses – things were starting to heat up between the goddesses, to be specific two of them. With less people around it made it a lot more easier for the CPUs to talk about matters that concerned them, one of which was a very sensitive subject that concerned White Heart closely. Black Heart stretched her arms out and shook her silver hair around as water dripped down her body, then a bright light enveloped around the tsundere goddess as she equipped her HDD uniform. "There, that's better," she said with a smile. "I'm glad to get back into this, a wet dress just isn't my style."

The others nodded as they all reverted back into their HDD uniforms. "True, I could just feel the stares burning into my back. Perverts," Green Heart muttered. However, some may have argued that Green Heart should have just stuck with wearing her dress, her outfit left little to the imagination.

"You said it, though I doubt all of them were staring at us just because they were perverts. Some of them were glaring at us, I could feel it," Purple Heart said, continuing to lean up against the tree. "I don't think this was nearly enough to make everyone start believing in us again."

"Of course it wasn't nearly enough. These people will not rest until we have cleared up the mess that was made, and I know how to do it," Black Heart declared with a prideful look, yet despite that everyone that was near her could sense that there was a grimmer and sadder look behind what she was showing. At any rate, all were intrigued to hear what she had to say, even White Heart. But what the Lastation goddess said next shook them all. "We will have to find Brian and… and… kill him."

Everyone was shocked at what Black Heart was suggestion, none more so than White Heart herself, in fact the Loweean CPU had an unnatural bloodlust in her eyes as she glared savagely at the Lastation CPU. As White Heart walked over to the group, scaring her younger sisters in the process, Purple Heart recognised where she had seen that look before: it belonged to Brian whenever he became too angry. As soon as White Heart was beside Black Heart the blue haired goddess drew her right arm back for a second before launching her fist forward, it collided with Black Heart's face, leaving a large red mark on her right cheek as she was sent to the ground.

Black Sister yelled at White Heart, unable to believe what she had just witnessed. "What the hell, Blanc?! What's gotten into you?!"

White Heart kept her glare directly towards Black Heart, who was starting to get back onto her feet as she rubbed her right cheek, her teeth were clenched together and a vicious look was in her eyes. The Lowean CPU, however, did not seem to care, instead she chose to speak to her in a not so friendly tone. "If you dare try to find Brian and kill him, then I'll end you," White Heart threatened, her fists clenched so tightly that blood could have trickled out.

"You'll kill me? I'd like to see you try!" Suddenly the air between the two goddesses became deadly and dangerous as they stared at one another, a light glowed around their right hands that, when it disappeared, showed their chosen weapons. White Heart and Black Heart were ready to fight.

Things would have escalated and turned into a bloodbath if it had not been for the two CPU Candidates of Lowee, Rom and Ram. They rushed in between the patron goddesses of Lowee and Lastation in an attempt to stop them from attacking one another, and it worked. "Come on you two, stop fighting!" Ram pleaded, glancing back and forth at her older sister and Black Heart.

"Uh huh," Rom added, nodding her head as a saddened expression adorned her face, tears would have started falling down her cheeks if she got even more upset. "I thought we were supposed to be friends."

After the Loweean Candidates pleaded for White Heart and Black Heart to calm down and be friendly again things seemed to calm down, at least the tension in the air felt to dissipate slightly at least. Neither goddess seemed to be genuinely pleased though, this was proven when they both glared at one another with the intent to fight. Eventually they both turned their backs to each other. "If you make any more threats towards me or Lastation then you will be in a worlds of pain, mark my words, Blanc," Black Heart threatened the Lowean CPU with a growl.

"If that's the case then let me give you a final warning: if you try to kill Brian or threaten me again, then you're dead, and that's a promise," White Heart promised in a threatening manner, then she glanced at Rom and Ram. "Come on, we're heading back home."

As the Loweean Candidates waved goodbye to the others, with heavily concerned expressions adorning their faces, and took off after their older sister, Black Heart glared viciously at White Heart before looking over at Black Sister. "Come on, Uni, it's time to leave," the patron CPU of Lastation informed her younger sister.

"What? O-Oh, right," Black Sister said before turning towards Purple Sister. "See you later, Nepgear."

"See you around," Purple Sister replied as the tsundere sisters of Lastation flew into the sky and headed towards the steam-punk nation of Gamindustri. As they disappeared into the distance the Planeptunian Candidate sighed and looked back at her older sister and the CPU of Leanbox; they were the only three people left outside the ruins of Haruno Village, but their thoughts were directed towards what they had just witnessed. "That was… unexpected. I never thought Blanc would do that to anyone."

Green Heart nodded, agreeing with Purple Sister. "True. We have all seen Blanc at her angriest, but this time it just felt different, like there was something else at work instead of her usual rage. Would it have something to do with how her Sharicite has some of Brian's Share Energy in it?"

"Possibly, it would make sense after all," Purple Heart responded. She brushed away her bangs and sighed. "Still, I'm glad that Black Heart didn't fight back once Rom and Ram entered the fray; if those two had fought then it would probably have been a bloodbath. We don't need a second Console War to break out, it would ruin everything we have accomplished to date."

"Speaking of Black Heart, where is Hiroshi? I thought those two were friends, so to not see him here is strange. Did Noire leave him behind or something?" the Leanboxic CPU inquired curiously.

Purple Sister looked over towards Green Heart and began to answer her question. "I think it might have something to do with his life. From what I heard from Uni it seems that Hiroshi is having a hard time with trying to keep up with his studies and work at the same time, being in college and everything. In fact, he and Noire haven't been hanging out together lately for the last several months, though there are the usual 'hellos' when they bump into each other, but nothing major. I think Noire is kinda upset about that, in her own way."

"I guess that would make sense," Purple Heart said, nodding her head. She then turned around and glanced at Green Heart with a small smile. "Care to join us back at our Basilicom and play some games? I think we need it after today."

The patron, and only, CPU of Leanbox smiled and nodded. "Very well, I shall take you up on that offer, I think we do need a couple of hours of games to brighten up the mood. Besides," Green Heart then forcefully wrapped her arms around the CPU Candidate of Planeptune, shoving Purple Sister's head into her well endowed breasts. "I need to spend time with my younger sister."

The senior goddess of Planeptune was clearly not amused with that claim, not did she show it. Instead, Purple Heart sighed and rubbed her temples with her left hand. "Please don't try to steal away Nep Jr, she's the only family I have – aside from Histoire acting as a mother."

Green Heart smiled yet continued to keep Purple Sister close to her, even when they flew back to the Planeptune Basilicom to play a game or two for the rest of the day; they needed to take a break from the stress that they went through. Still, despite all that had happened between White Heart and Black Heart, things appeared to have gone smoothly. However, it felt as if this was just the beginning, as if something was going to happen that they did not know about. Then again, something was always happening; but as the small group flew towards the Planeptune Basilicom Purple Heart got the feeling that there was something out in Gamindustri, plotting the downfall of all.

 _It just might be my mind playing tricks on me again, but I just can't shake of the feeling that we're all being watched._ Purple Heart thought as she and the others neared the Basilicom. _Let's just hope that nothing bad happens, too much as already gone down over the last year._

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The evening was starting to settle across all of Gamindustri as the sky turned into shades of yellow and red; the level of activity in the city of Planeptune had not died down, instead it appeared to have risen slightly. News had spread about the goddesses participating in the memorial service of Haruno Village, and it was met with various opinions, but some it seemed had actually welcomed it, so a small step in rebuilding relations between humans and CPUs was on its way. Meanwhile, a couple were about to leave the comforts of a friend's home to pursue a date. They were standing side-by-side outside the front door of their friend's house, both were talking to said friend with smiles on their slightly embarrassed faces.

The friend's light creamy pink hair appeared to shine in the evening sunlight, which managed to break through the dark clouds for a short while; the friend was a girl who had a perky smile as she waved a goodbye to the couple. "Take care, Iffy and Victy," she said cheerfully as thye walked away side-by-side, waving their goodbye to her. The perky woman, Compa, sighed and turned around to re-enter her house. As the nurse opened the front door and stepped inside she could not help but think about IF and Victor. "To think that those two are living together in their own house, but in separate rooms. Still, it's really cute to see those two be together and get embarrassed."

IF the Guild Agent – or Wind Walker – and Victor the Wind Mage, meanwhile, were walking down the street towards the Planeptune Guild side-by-side, yet never holding hands while their faces had a tinge of red; despite dating for about a year they were still rather shy around each other, but there was the occasional affectionate moment between the two. Oddly enough, their dates usually consisted of doing some sort of deed for the Guild, such as doing a few missions and things like that. At that moment both were on their way to the Guild in order to choose a mission so they could have their date; it was not an entirely normal way to have a date, but both were Guild members so it worked out well for them. Most of the time they would choose a mission at random, other times they would choose one that was of great importance.

IF brushed away the bangs that were beginning to grow down her forehead and looked up at the dark sky, the last rays of the evening sunlight had disappeared. "This is going to put a damper on our d-date," she said, stammering the last word involuntarily. Despite being in a relationship with Victor for around a year she had never grown accustomed to the romance of it, neither had Victor for that matter.

Victor nodded, agreeing with IF's statement. "Indeed, and a damn pity I might add. Still, this just might mean that we could encounter some type of monster who likes the dark while we're out and about. Who knows, maybe we might come across some sort of new breed that we never knew of before."

The brown haired Guild Agent laughed, happy to see the enthusiasm that the cane-wielding man had. Nothing much had changed with IF and Victor with their looks, although their lives had indeed changed. It was true that they had bought a house for themselves so Compa would not have to feel uncomfortable, just as a precaution. The house was nearby to Compa's and a relative distance form the Guild, meaning that they could get a good morning or afternoon walk before doing an actual quest. But aside from that, nothing much else had changed between the two, other than the fact that IF's hair had grown slightly longer while Victor's top hat and one-buttoned brown trench appeared more dirty than before. There was one major change, however: IF had continued to learn the art of wind magic from Victor, and she was getting better at it.

A cool, light breeze blew through the air, rustling the trees as IF and Victor arrived outside the Guild. Once they arrived outside the entrance Victor stepped aside and chivalrously gestured for IF to enter first, his ruby-tipped cane pointed towards the door. "Ladies first," the chrome haired man said with a smile and a blush.

The Guild Agent smiled brightly and stepped forward with the Wind Mage following closely behind her, but when the two of them entered the main hall they surprised with what they saw. Dozens upon dozens of people were gathering around the large touch-screens that were spread across the walls and columns of the Guild hall, some were even hogging the space in front of the outdated billboards, gazing at the same thing. IF narrowed her eyes in suspicion and crossed her arms. "What the hell is going on here?" she asked, knowing that Victor too did not know.

The Wind Mage shrugged. "Perhaps it would be wise if we asked some of these people about it, then we would understand all of this commotion."

IF nodded and together the two of them approached the nearest touch-screen with the least amount of people hogging it, once they arrived at one the emerald green eyed agent looked over at a monster hunter she recognised and asked her a question. "What's going on here? Why are so many people hogging the billboards and touch-screens? Is there some sort of rare monster running around or something?"

The monster hunter glanced back and pointed at the screen. "That would depend on what you classify as a 'monster', just take a look at it."

Curious as to what was making everyone hyped up IF glanced at the screen, then she froze with a frightened expression; her teeth clenched tightly and her eyes were fixated on what was in front of her. Victor noticed the frightened look across IF's face before taking a look at the screen, he too stood with his eyes wide open and his mouth unable to close out of pure shock. What they were both seeing was not something they had expected. "Hey, Victor, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" IF asked, never taking her gaze off the screen.

"Yes, I'm afraid that I do see what you see," the Wind Mage replied, his fists clenched tightly around his cane. "This is… unexpected. We have to go and see Lady Histoire tomorrow about this."

The Guild Agent turned around and looked at Victor as if he was suggesting a bad idea. "Why not just tell her right now? It would be easier to do that instead of waiting a day you know."

"I know that, but Lady Histoire has been overly busy for the last few days and as such was even unable to attend the memorial service today. Plus, if we wait until tomorrow then we might figure out of this is actually true or not."

IF nodded, agreeing with his sage suggestion. "All right then, let's just hope that nothing bad happens from now till tomorrow." _But why now of all times? It's been a year and now this happens? Only time can now tell what will happen next._ She thought to herself, dreading for what was to come.

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, this is another author's note, but I gotta ask something. Is the term 'Lowean' correct or is it 'Loweean'? I know I've used 'Lowean' throughout The Rising Darkness and in the first chapter of this story so far, but I want to be correct with this. Oh, and does a group of Lastation people mean 'Lastationese'? I never seem to get that right. Oh, and I have been trying to draw a few of the characters for a better cover image, but I suck at drawing – I can draw stick men and mutant cockatoos at least – so I'm afraid there might not be anything like that, unless I can find a way around my lack of skills. Anyway, sorry for the bantering.**

 **Just made a few edits, nothing major.**


	2. Hunted

**Chapter 2: Hunted**

The sky was dark, the clouds blocked off the stars and the moon with only small rays of moonlight shining through the dark clouds, lighting up Gamindustri as the rain began to fall over the southern portion of the continent. While the rainfall was light around Planeptune and southern Lastation the situation was different in Leanbox, especially for those who lived by the sea. Along the western coastline of Leanbox the weather was worse off than the rest of the country, this all affected the city that was located further up the western coastline: Hero City. The mightiest and greatest harbour city of all of Leanbox was under assault by heavy rain showers, drenching the buildings, streets and the wilderness. Yet this did not seem to bother the residents, in fact the people of Hero City were in a rather jubilant mood.

Hero City was founded several years after the construction of Leanbox City and the founding of the nation of Leanbox by Venus, the first CPU of the Land of Green Pastures. Originally, Hero City was used as a harbour of war where Venus had her engineers create warships to conquer the southern coastline of the mainland, that was until something odd and almost unreal happened: Venus had a vision. The history books of Gamindustri had long forgotten it, but Venus of Leanbox was said to have had the gift – or curse – of foresight; incidentally she was not the only goddess to have had a divine blessing, but she was credited to have been the last CPU to receive such power, who the first was no one could remember. Regardless, once Venus had this vision she immediately journeyed to the mainland and arrived in Planeptune, there she and the others goddesses, along with an awoken Histoire, signed a treaty that sealed their countries in an alliance. Afterwards, Hero City was transformed from a military harbour city into one of the most profitable trading centres in the south of Gamindustri, and a profitably rich one at that.

Hero City traded in all sorts of items that ranged from weapons and armour, to food and soft drink, to toys and computer games, deposits of mineral wealth, even vehicles such as cars and trucks. The harbour city was also a common stopping spot for trading ships from Planeptune and Lastation, when there were ships coming in though. It was often said by the residents of Hero City that, without their harbour and trading acumen, there would be no Leanbox, although such a claim made them unpopular with the residents of the other cities and towns. However, it was not only in the art of trading that Hero City was well known for, there was another reason why they were well known and famous for: battle tournaments. For the last several decades a tradition of virtual battle had been made the norm for the harbour city, and indeed all of Leanbox. Originally it was meant as a way to train prospective recruits for the army during the days of the Console War, although the citizens used it more than just training, but after the signing of the Friendship Treaty the virtual battle simulation was officially turned from a training simulation into a tournament. While the rest of Leanbox appeared to be subtle with these kinds of tournaments, Hero City was quite the opposite in retrospect. While these types of virtual battle tournaments occurred around once every three to six months throughout out Leanbox and the other cities and towns, Hero City held them once every month or two; it was all quite a strain for the authorities to deal with.

While the day was grim and morbid, due to the one year anniversary of the destruction of Haruno Village, many of the residents of Hero City banded together to play a days worth of Virtual Battle Simulator, as was the name of the game. The setting: a simulated ruin of Hero City. Location: Hero City. Rules: Free-for-all, stay within set boundaries, keep away from civilians and have fun. Teams: None – free-for-all. Reward: Ten thousand credits and a golden trophy. Time Period: Dawn to dusk. That was the usual set of rules. Sometimes people formed different teams with dozens of people on separate sides, fighting it for the number one spot, but when it was a free-for-all then that was when the tournaments became more crazy and violent. During one of these events all entryways and exits to and from city were forcibly closed due to the chaos that occurred. Despite it being all in a virtual reality it seemed and felt very real, not only that but since the game covered the city and just about everyone in it this meant that it was one of the most advanced virtual reality games to have ever been created, but due to how long it took to create it, and the amount of credits spent on the parts, it was economically unworthy and a waste of time to mass produce more. Not only that, but it was also prone to malfunctions and overheating, at least the earlier models were.

At any rate, most of the people of Hero City loved Virtual Battle Simulator, they always looked forward to playing it for an entire day – or night in some cases – but it could be said that many were a bit too addicted to it. Despite it all the game was very, very popular, even Vert had travelled to Hero City to attend such events, naturally she came out on top; this just boosted the popularity of Virtual Battle Simulator. The day of the first year anniversary of the event known throughout the four nations of Gamindustri as the 'Massacre of Haruno Village' was no exception. Some people attended the ceremony while others stayed to set up the virtual game before actually playing it, by the time everyone returned they found themselves caught up in the middle of a free-for-all match between the residents of Hero City, the sailors from Planeptune and Lastation and even a few travellers.

There was also one other thing that made Hero City famous, or infamous in a way: heavy drinking. It was only natural for a harbour city that happened to be the most important trading centre in all of Leanbox, and for all the southern region of Gamindustri, but the people of this amusingly and surprisingly controlled chaotic city took it to new extremes. After every virtual tournament was over most of the people who participated in the event would take over all the pubs in the city and drink themselves to sleep in a celebration party, sometimes it would get out of hand and chaos would ensue, but on good days it was all generally peaceful. But with the amount of times Virtual Battle Simulator was played, and with the large amounts of alcohol that were consumed afterwards, things seemed far from peaceful, especially when at leas half of Hero City's population became drunk. Since all of this occurred on a Sunday the local council decreed that, due to these events, that Monday was officially a public holiday. Once, a council member, who was also a drunkard, suggested that there should be two Sundays so everyone could recover easily and then be back of to work on Monday, but that was refuted. Regardless, the tournament was over with minimal casualties – no one died, but several had dislocated limbs or pulled their muscles – and everyone was drinking their life away in a happy state, minding their own business while and ignoring the heavy rain while celebrating the success of the virtual tournament once again.

However, on the outskirts of the city win the wilderness walked a solitary figure wrapped in a stitched up brown trench coat with a hood over their head, the hood appeared to have been also stitched on. The lonesome figure, aside from having a stitched up brown trench coat and hood, also appeared to have a leather backpack slung over their back, two swords – one black, the other dark purple – crossed over each other were strapped to the figure's back underneath the backpack, a broken sword hilt with a short jagged blade still attached to it was strapped to the figure's leather belt, brown leather armour with square paddings adorned the upper body while the arms were hidden by the coat's sleeves, dark coloured pants with leather padding were also worn with leather boots, brown leather gauntlets decorated the figure's hands, a peculiar steel helmet with thick steel plating with strange motifs fixed on the sides and front was attached to the right side of the figures belt. The lonesome figure had a light brown beard with a light reddish touch and a heavy cowlick falling down his forehead, his piercing brown eyes glared at everything before him. He made his way to Hero City, not caring about the rain that pelted down heavily upon him.

As the mysterious figure passed by a small plot of trees a vicious growling emitted from the undergrowth, then out came a small subspecies of the common fernir; its teeth sharp and claws ready to strike. As the wolf pounced at the lonesome man, ready to rip out his throat and feast upon his innards, the lonesome young man sidestepped the monster and grabbed it by the neck with his right hand, a bright blue glow emitted from his arm. The beast whimpered sadly as it tried to squirm out of the tightening grip, but to no avail. The young man then drew his broken blade with his left hand, raised it over the wolf's head and struck downwards, repeatedly stabbing the unfortunate monster through the top of its skull. After a minute of repeated skull-stabbing, the wolf was dead, the young man grunted and threw the body away as it turned into pixels. The lonesome figure then resumed his journey towards Hero City, never stopping and never caring. As the young man entered the city boundaries he stopped and looked around him, glancing through the shadows for any signs of life, but none came to him. With a disgruntled grunt the lonesome figure continued to walk through the alleyways, avoiding the main streets and the people who roamed them in the middle of the night as best he could; as he roamed away down another alleyway two shady figures clothed in dark cloaks and hoods followed the young man from a distance.

The young, hooded man passed by a few drunken sailors being escorted back to their hotel by a local militia guard, the guard gave no heed to the lonesome figure as he walked on by, in fact no one really seemed to care at all. This was good enough for the young, hooded man as he walked on by; the rain appeared to have no intentions of letting anyone go without getting soaked however. As the hooded figure walked up to some sort of convenience store, which happened to be open for 24 hours a day, a small man with a big belly and wavering black hair along with a rough beard stepped out holding a carrot in his right hand, he took a large bite out of it and belched loudly after swallowing it. The hooded young man continued onward, ignoring the strange carrot-eating man, who had by now walked out into the rain with his carrot, not caring about the fact that he had nothing to shelter him from the heavy rainfall. As the minutes passed by quickly the rain and the dark clouds showed no signs of going away, not that the people of Hero City cared any more, they were too indulged with their booze and food to notice. As the lonesome, hooded man walked by people and lightly lit buildings he was followed by the two shady, hooded figures, both keeping thir distance.

The lonesome young man turned down a street corner and came across a reasonably large drinking establishment that also happened to house a few rooms for rent, the young man looked up at the swinging wooden sign above him to read the words: 'The Giggling Donkey' was what the sign said. It was an inn, that much was clear; there did not seem to be too many people inside from what the lonesome, hooded young man could see, most of the people he could see were drinking and eating together, leaving large amounts of space around the back of the inn. With a heavy sigh, and a rumble from his stomach, the young man walked towards the door, only stopping to glance behind him with piercing, flaring bright blue eyes that glowed in the dark brightly. Satisfied that he was not being followed the young man entered the inn, ignoring the loud noises that rang through his ears as people shouted, clanked glasses and mugs together or banged their heads against tables. The inn looked like something out of a medieval world with a modern flavour thrown into it; thick wooden beams were positioned all over the area, holding the roof up and giving places for people to lean up against, the floor was a light green, the walls were a plain white with paintings scattered all over the place, a set of wooden stairs were located in the corner of the main room. Tables and chairs were set all over the place, the counter was overly large and filled with mugs of alcohol all over the place, smoke from cigarettes filled the air.

The young man approached the bar counter, ignoring the people who sat nearby, the person standing behind the bar was a woman with blonde hair tied up behind her and small, dark red eyes, she was wearing a green dress and an open dark purple top that was tied up around her mildly sized breasts. She took notice of the lonesome young man and beamed a bright smile at him, though the smile soon faltered as she sensed the unnatural and dangerous aura that irradiated from him. Nonetheless, she decided to do her best to ignore it and take his order, stammering as she did so. "G-Good evening, s-sir. M-May I take your order?"

The young man's hood concealed a part of his face, giving off an intimidating aura. He looked at the nearby menu and gazed at it for a few minutes without making a noise, finally he picked it up and pointed at the beef and mushroom stew, which costed around fifteen credits before pointing at an iced coffee that costed ten credits. The bar woman nodded quickly, grabbed the small leather-stitched bag filled with twenty-five credits and walked away to the obscured kitchen with the young man's order. Before she left, however, the woman looked over at the young man, deciding to ask him a question against her own better judgement. "H-Have I seen you before from somewhere?" she asked nervously, wondering if she even wanted to know the answer.

"No," he replied in a monotone voice, lying through his teeth. As the woman then made her way into the kitchen the hooded man retreated to the back of the inn, ignoring the odd glance that was thrown his way, he also noticed that two other men had entered the oddly named inn while he was silently ordering his meal, both had taken up residence in separate corners in the back of the inn. The young man seated himself right at the back of the inn with the wall facing his back, he unslung his leather backpack and placed it against the wall before placing his swords up against the wooden table.

This, however, caught the attention of some random woman who happened to be mildly drunk yet sounded as if she still had the power of speech and sight, she appeared to be a sailor from Lastation due to the Lastation badge on the collar of her black jacket. As the Lastationite sailer passed by the young, hooded man she stopped and glanced at the swords leaning up on the table. "Oooo, that's a Lastation sword right there," she said a tad too cheerfully, accidentally spilling some of her booze onto the ground. "That's an Armas Mecha Sword Mk 1, one of the originals before all those fancy Mk 2 swords began to be designed and all; those new swords have yet to be released though. That's pretty cool, dude."

The young man nodded, clearly not in the mood to converse with her, yet she did not realise that. The sailor then saw the dark purple blade, she grimaced as she felt the deathly aura that flowed from the dark sword. As the Lastationite sailor went to go and touch it the lonesome man glanced viciously at her, his eyes lighting up with a bright blue energy. "Touch it, and you die," he hissed at her.

"Tch. Fine, whatever," the Lastationite sailor grumbled as she began to walk away, finishing off the last of her alcohol, making her words slurred and her stride became more of a stumble. She disappeared into a large crowd of people, who happened to be surrounding two Leanboxians who were having a drinking contest.

The young man glared at them for a short moment before a waitress arrived with his stew and drink, she set them down in front of him and bowed politely, to which he gave a 'thank you' nod in return. As the solitary young man picked up his tall glass cup and began to take a couple of sips of iced coffee he gazed over at a nearby table, there he saw some Planeptunian sailor fall over in a drunken stupor, resulting in a laugh from an old lady who seemed to be enjoying herself. Joy. It was a feeling that the young man had almost forgotten. The memories he did have were all jumbled together, it made him feel confused at times, but there were some memories that he had forgotten. As the lonesome man began to eat his mushroom and beef stew his thoughts flew across just about everything he could remember clearly, but as soon as an image of a young-looking woman with sandy brown hair, blue eyes, fair skin and a stoic expression upon her face appeared in his thoughts all movement stopped for a moment, he then lowered he spoon in his hand back into the bowl and sighed sadly, flexing his gloved right hand in front of him.

 _Blanc… just what have I become?_ He questioned himself as a saddened expression formed on his face, his gaze looked downwards in shame of what he had down in his past. Not long afterwards the sad and pained look was replaced by an expression filled with rage and hatred, then he went back to eating and drinking. _Heh, forget such feelings; to hate is to survive. Through death, I live. Through darkness, I roam. Through war, I thrive. Through fire, I am reborn. Such is the way of the phoenix, the way of the Ancient, the way of the Shadow Walker._

As the young man began to finish off the last of the stew he noticed two sets of eyes staring harshly at him for some reason, he glanced to his left and right to see the two cloaked and hooded men who had entered some time ago whilst he was ordering his dinner, it was they who were staring at him for some untold reason. The solitary young man thought it was nothing too strange, after all, people have done it before over the last year wherever he roamed, but as he took another quick glance at the two of them he soon realised that something was wrong, his sixth sense could feel it. Both were staring sternly at him, their hands were upon the hilts of their weapons and both seemed ready to attack the young man as they stood up, approaching him slowly. From what the young man could see the two men were probably members of the Leanbox Guild, had some light combat and padded armour, they carried swords around their belts and one of the men even had a fold-up spear on his back. As they slowly made their way to the young man, grabbing the hilts of their swords, the hooded man grumbled to himself and grabbed a hold of the dark purple blade, his right arm and hand shivered in a bright blue energy as he touched the sword. Just as the young man was about to spring up from his seat and kill his soon-to-be attackers something happened: a person walked up to him and sat down on the chair in front of him.

The person who was now sitting in front of the hooded young man on the other side of the small table was a woman with blue eyes, long denim blue hair with bangs that had a slant cut to it, a small mole was situated below her left eye, a small smile was planted on her face; but what was most interesting about her was the choice of clothing. The mysterious woman was wearing an oversized brown and black witch hat with three white gears that criss-crossed over each other, a white overcoat with black lining and brown details, a black dress was worn underneath the coat with a red tie, grey stockings and black shoes; for some reason she also had a black staff with a curved top with her as well. The strange woman placed her staff up against the table, leaned forward and crossed her arms as she stared at the hooded young man. Her unexpected arrival deterred the two Guild members to reassess the situation at hand before they returned to their seats, grumpy and annoyed. The young man sighed and let his grip on the dark purple sword go, but he still felt uncomfortable with the new stranger, there was something off about her.

The denim blue haired woman continued to smile as she relaxed in the chair, then she spoke. "I think introductions are in order here. My name is MAGES., I am sorry if my presence surprised you but I needed to speak to you."

The young man's eyes narrowed suspiciously at her, his fists became clenched and MAGES. thought she heard a growl escape him. "I know who you are, or at least I know of you thanks to rumours. You call yourself the 'Mad Magician' for whatever reason, you've also made a home for yourself in the southern region of Virtua Forest for reasons unknown, not only that but you are on a quest to find some pointless fizzy drink as well."

MAGES. nodded, glad that the young man knew well enough about her, though she kept quiet about her slight discomfort of what the young man's opinion of her favourite fizzy drink. "Yes, you are correct in thinking that. It seems that you know just about all that is known about me, but unlike almost everyone around here I know much about you," she said before leaning forward until her face was close to the young, hooded man's face. "Brian the Shadow Walker."

The young man hissed for her to be quiet, pushing her back into her seat before leaning back into his own seat, glancing suspiciously at everyone in case they heard him and MAGES. After a minute of glancing at the inn's patrons the hooded man felt confident that no one knew what he and the Mad Magician were talking about. He turned back to face her, unamused yet interested. "Keep your voice down if you have to say my name," Brian warned MAGES., hissing at her to be silent about it. "I don't want people to know I am here, it would cause a scene that would end with me slaughtering them all in cold blood."

MAGES. did not like the sound of that, and was silently glad that no one actually heard them talk. She sighed with relief and looked back at Brian. "Well then, I am glad that no one actually heard your name, I would not have want to be in the middle of it. I don't like getting into trouble."

"What a horrible way to live," Brian muttered before he drank the last of his iced coffee, sighing with relief due to the taste before letting out a depressing sigh due to there being no iced coffee left to drink. "Anyway, you said you wanted to speak to me, and that is something I really want to know. Why, after all this time, does someone come looking for me just to have a conversation?"

"Information," MAGES. replied. "I have some news that would be of interest to you, so you should listen to what I have to say. Plus, I am interested about why you are here of all places, though if you are looking for a way back to the mainland from here then I would advise against it, especially since there are some shady characters around."

Brian took a quick glance at the two Guild members in the two corners of the inn, still wondering why they were there and why they were after him, finally he glanced back at MAGES. with the intent to find out what she knew. However, he knew well enough, from novels he read throughout his early teenage years and from the time he spent with Blanc, that gaining information usually meant giving information up as well. "I suppose you want information from me as payment for giving me the info you are hoarding right now?" he asked, doing his best to keep the conversation as quiet as possible.

MAGES. nodded, confirming the young Ancient's suspicions. "That is correct. Heh, you're smarter than you look; no offence or anything." The casual shrug from Brian eased the Mad Magician's blood pressure, which had been building up ever since she sat down in front of the young man. "Anyway, you are correct. So here is what will happen: I will tell you what I know if you tell me what you are doing here. Sound fair to you?"

Brian grumbled for a moment before sighing in defeat, his gaze was directed towards MAGES. once more, this time his piercing brown eyes became troubled. "Alright, I'll tell you what I am doing here. Do you know of the Agandur the Dark Lord?"

MAGES. scratched her chin thoughtfully for a short moment before answering. "Well, I did hear a rumour around a couple of months ago about some Dark Lord or something, didn't pay too much attention to it. But what has this got to do with you being out here?"

"It has to do with everything, MAGES., it has to do with everything. A year ago me and a few… friends were fighting against the Dark Captains, and I know you have heard of them before." The nod from the Mad Magician confirmed his thoughts. "I thought so. Well, the Dark Captains were practically worshipping that bastard of a man and were fighting against the Goddesses to steal their Share Energy, then they were going to use me as the new body for the Dark Lord. They died and the Dark Lord's spirit was released into this world, after that came… came… well, you should know the rest by now."

MAGES. nodded, not wanting to talk about it either, much to Brian's comfort. The Ancient Emperor then continued. "After that… incident, I have dedicated all year to hunt him and whatever supporters he had, then kill them all. Finding and killing his followers was easy enough, but hunting the spirit of the Dark Lord was harder than I thought. I travelled across all of Gamindustri, sleeping in caves and trees, slaughtering monsters to amuse myself, keeping to myself with only nothing to keep me company."

"So why here of all places though?" MAGES. asked, although she could guess where the explanation was heading.

"I was roaming around the south of Leanbox when I heard of a rumour that some sort of ghost in a red colour was wandering around the outskirts of Hero City, I went to check it out but I found no sight of him." Brian sighed depressingly and rubbed his temples in frustration. "Fucking hell, and the rumour sounded promising. Now I'm here for the night before I head out east, maybe I'll head for Leanbox City and see what's going on. Your turn."

MAGES. nodded once more. "Very well. I am here on a special errand, which I tasked myself with, to find you and tell you about something urgent. Along the way here I was cornered by a couple of thugs, they mistook me for a weak girl fresh out of school."

"I imagine they gravely regretted that," Brian responded after eating the last of his stew.

"After knocking them out I searched their belongings and found this." The Mad Magician then reached down into her dress and pulled out a piece of paper, she then glanced at the paper before looking back at Brian. "A note. It's a promise of payment."

Brian looked up at her, sitting up straight in his chair, curious about what the payment was for. "For what?"

"Your head." MAGES. fully glanced at Brian sternly, her grip on the piece of paper tightened, the response was not one that he had expected. "Somebody wants you dead."

Brian appeared to be slightly taken aback by what the note had said, but he soon relaxed into his chair once more. "Well, I guess that nothing new, after all I had done I suppose it would come to bite me in the backside one day. So who wants me dead?"

"I don't know, but from the look of this I'd say that this came from the Leanbox Guild, if that's the case then I can only presume that all the Guilds throughout Gamindustri have something similar going on with this." She then handed the note over to Brian, who studied it in great length before handing it back, a dissatisfied look appeared on his face.

"Tch. So now all of Gamindustri is out and baying for my blood, not what I was expecting. Don't the Goddesses have some sort of control over the Guild?" Brian asked, a tinge of concern could be noted in his tone.

MAGES. shook her head. "No, the Guilds are a separate organisation that do not answer to the CPUs; normally that wouldn't be a bad thing, but now… now things are getting out of hand. I can only presume that hundreds of bounty hunters are after you as we speak, and those two gentlemen in the back corners of this lovely named inn are probably after you as well."

As she and the young Ancient glanced over at the two Guild members they say them regroup and leave the inn in a hurry, leaving Brian and MAGES. to whatever fate happened to be in store for them. It was Brian who took the first initiative when he stood up and walked over next to the Mad Magician after re-equipping his backpack and swords. "I suppose those two are going to report my whereabouts to their superiors, whoever they are. Since they saw you talking to me that puts you in a lot of danger, so you should get out of here while you still have the chance."

To his surprise MAGES. stood up and flashed a small smile at him, her staff was in her left hand and her right hand straightened her witch hat. "Well, since my life is in as much danger as yours, I have no other option but to accompany you until this all blows over. Plus, you aren't aware of the fact that the most elite of the Leanbox army, the Spartans, are watching this city as well as the west and north coastlines; so if your method of escape was to retreat by sea from here then you're out of luck. However, I just might know where we can get off the island, that is if you want to."

Brian locked eyes with the Mad Magician, his stern stare was almost akin to a glare, but there was much regret and sadness from what MAGES. could see. "I need to get off this damnable island before they manage to kill me. If what you say is true then Blanc is possibly as in much danger as you and I, and I cannot allow that. I need to return to Lowee and make sure Blanc is all right, then after…"

The young Ancient cut himself off and stared at the floor, uncertain about what to say next. MAGES. looked at him, expecting the young man to finish his sentence. "Then what? What are you going to do afterwards?"

"I… I don't know. This is the first time I don't really know what to do, and it's frustrating. I don't know what to do, but I have to go and see Blanc, Rom and Ram, after that we'll see what happens." Brian glanced towards the door before looking back at the Mad Magician. "If you really want to travel with me to Lowee then you better run fast, I won't be making many stops along the way."

MAGES. nodded, appearing fine with the future difficulties. "That is fine by me. To be truthful I was hoping to visit my sister in Leanbox City, but that will have to wait unfortunately."

Brian looked quizzically at her, more or less confused with the small news. "Sister? Who's your sister?"

"You would know her as 5bp, she happens to be my older sister." After sharing that bit of information she headed towards the door, only stopping to glance back at Brian. "Well, you coming or not?"

"Yeah, yeah," Brian mumbled as he followed MAGES. out of The Giggling Donkey and back onto the street, the rain had somewhat loosened up which was a source of slight comfort. The Mad Magician did not seem to care much about the rain, in fact she suspiciously seemed unaffected by it; only after a quick look did Brian realise that MAGES. had silently cast a spell over her to keep the rain off.

When she noticed this the Magician chuckled. "Pretty neat, isn't it? Want me to cast one on you?"

The hooded young man shook his head. "No, I'm fine, I can deal with the rain. Come on, we better get moving. Let's head east and see what we come across, hopefully some sort of boat that those damn Spartans aren't watching over."

MAGES. nodded, and together the two outlaws ran side-by-side in the rain as fast as they could, swiftly passing by citizens, guards and drunkards, never stopping to regain their breath for long. However, as they parted The Giggling Donkey and quickly made their towards the boundary of Hero City, a young-looking man with fair skin, red hair that appeared short yet slightly spiked up, blue eyes and a scar running down his right eye appeared out of the darkness of a nearby alleyway, his gaze was directed towards the Shadow Walker and the Mad Magician. Although, what was most unusual about his appearance was the fact that he was wearing a suit of green futuristic combat armour that covered his body from head to toe, a helmet with an orange visor was held in his armoured left hand, a slender jet-pack was attached to his back, an armoured wristband with several buttons was worn around the base of his left wrist; a futuristic assault rifle with a small chainsaw attached to the bottom was held in his right hand, a shotgun was attached to his jet-pack, a pistol with two combat knives and several grenades were strapped to his waist.

"Well, this is interesting. Those bounty hunters were right after all. I better shadow them and inform the captain of this," he muttered to himself, keeping to the shadows as best he could. Then he walked back into the shadows, watching the two fugitives as they ran out of Hero City whilst putting his helmet back on. "For Lady Green Heart, for Leanbox."

* * *

 **A/N: The references… oh the references… so glorious. Guess them if you can! TheCarlosInferno, your OC has begun his entrance into the world of Gamindustri, oh, and thanks again for letting me use him in this fanfic. I hope things are starting to get interesting, cause I think they are, especially for what I have coming up next for future chapters down the road. I have been making some changes for a few of the future chapters, this is because the original chapter drafts just doesn't fit well, plus I'm having trouble deciding whether to bring a chapter forward or stick with what I originally had – these problems should be solved soon, hopefully. Regardless, leave a suggestion if you want to see something or just have an idea, let me know how I'm fairing so far and have a good day.**


	3. Reminiscing

**Chapter 3: Reminiscing**

With daylight now shining over all of Gamindustri the day had fully begun in full swing, and it was quite a sight to behold. Dozens upon dozens of people flocked to their local Guild, wondering what had caught the attention of others, so when they saw the 10 million credit bounty for Brian the Shadow Walker's head they could not believe what they were seeing. 10 million credits was too real to be true, no one could have had that large amount of money; well, except for the factory companies in Lastation. Not to mention that most people did not have much good to say about the young Ancient, so many found the prospect of hunting down a criminal and former friend of the Goddesses to be a rather enticing proposition. All of this, however, escaped the notice of the CPUs, in fact they did not even question why there were several dozen people gathering in their local Guilds in an excited state.

One of the Goddesses who gave no second thought to the exceptionally large influx of people in the Guild was none other than Blanc, White Heart of Lowee. The stoic, brown haired, flat goddess of the north paid no attention to what was going on with the Guild, instead she was focusing on one object: her novel. Actually, it was hers and Brian's novel, but after the young Ancient had disappeared a day after the Massacre of Haruno Village the Loweean CPU had taken it upon herself to double her efforts, then later she decided to triple her efforts after a few months and left most of the work a CPU was required to do with Mina. It was not the most practical thing a CPU would have done, but she felt that getting ahead with her novel was of more importance than signing documents and paperwork. A great role model Blanc was not. Still, she did not completely disregard her duties as a goddess, unlike Neptune at the best – and worst – of times. Sometimes Blanc had to sign some important documents that involved law, citizenship and the day-to-day business of running a nation; overall the Loweean Goddess found it to be rather boring and tasteless at the best of times.

This was the usual day-to-day business that Blanc had been going through for the past year, and she had not been enjoying it at all, except for writing the novel of course. There was a problem however: Blanc had been suffering from Writer's Block for many months, and there was no sign of recovery from it. Small progress had been made, but the goddess of the north was stuck on chapter seventeen of the novel but had gone back to rewrite chapter seven, specifically the part in the chapter where heroine and the hero first meet, the problem she was having was how they would meet and what they would be thinking at the time, then there was their actions afterwards. It was difficult because Blanc was taking inspiration from her first encounter with Brian, but it was rather uneventful due to their first meeting being when the young Ancient was unconscious, although their first official meeting was just as uneventful and the only thing that stood out was how Vert asked whether the young man preferred big or small breasts. Blanc fidgeted around as she remembered it all; just thinking about Brian always got her in a mixed mood – sometimes it was depression due to his disappearance and for what he had committed, other times it was loneliness, other times it was both.

Blanc was lonely, that was a given; ever since the Massacre of Haruno Village and after Brian left to hunt down the Dark Lord the Loweean Goddess had been left by herself with only a small group of friends as well as her younger sisters, but it just was not the same. Everywhere Blanc went, she went without Brian; everything she did, she did it without Brian. The Ancient had effected her everyday life so once he was out of the picture it was difficult for the Loweean CPU to get back into her original lifestyle that she had grown accustomed to for the last two centuries, but that seemed like a lifetime ago to her, getting used to it once again was a harder process than she thought. It also did not help that everywhere Blanc went around the Lowee Basilicom she was constantly reminded of the young Ancient, especially whenever she passed his room as well as the library.

On some days Blanc appeared to be her usual, stoic self but with some distance put between her and others, on other days she was completely distant, sometimes she was outright harsh, but as the year went on by it appeared that the Lowean CPU was slowly getting worse. On one occasion – Brian's nineteenth birthday – Blanc had celebrated it by spending the day in the young man's room, staring at his Loweean styled white coat and multicoloured hat that were hanging off the wall as well as the broken remains of his Gladius, a picture of the two was in Blanc's hands as she sat on the bed, remembering their time together. Then her thoughts went back to the time they had together during Brian's eighteenth birthday; it always made Blanc blush in a bright red when she remembered what they did, more specifically her 'present' to him.

To Blanc's reasoning, which at times differed from everybody else's, writing the novel she and Brian had started was the main way to remember him, it was one of the few things she had left to remind her of him. For the first couple of months Blanc had clung onto the hope that Brian would return from his self-imposed exile and just try to live normally with her, but after six months had passed Blanc's hopes were dashing quickly, so when after ten months had passed the Loweean Goddess gave up on the thought of Brian returning. A year had passed and not once had he come to visit her, Rom, Ram and Mina, it grieved and saddened her even though she knew the risks her too high for him.

Blanc sighed and slouched forward in her chair, her elbows rested on the desk while her hand ruffled her hair, her hat hung loosely off to one side and her fur-lined white coat with blue lining was hanging off to one side, exposing her left shoulder to the cold air. The Loweean CPU had been working all throughout the night, in fact she had been up for the last several nights and barely got any sleep for the last week. The Loweean CPU glared at her computer screen and growled at it, cursing her mind for not being able to get pass her case of Writer's Block. "Grrr, this is getting bloody damn annoying," Blanc grumbled. After a few minutes the Loweean CPU let out her anger by yelling and slamming her right fist into the desk. "Grrraahhh! Damn it already! I can't think of anything that can help me! Nothing! Dammit, Brian, why did you have to go and leave me?!"

"Um, are you alright there, Lady Blanc?" a concerned voice asked from the door.

Blanc looked around as she turned her swirly chair to face the newcomer, which turned out to be Mina. The blue haired, red and white coated and dressed Oracle of Lowee stood in the doorway, a breakfast tray with a steaming cup of hot tea, fried rice with an assortment of vegetables mixed into it and some other types of freshly cooked, traditional food. The Loweean CPU smiled at Mina, although her smile as small and tired. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine, Mina, I was just getting a bit annoyed with this novel it all," Blanc replied as calmly as she could, her anger dissipating.

The Oracle of Lowee looked dubiously at Blanc, initially not believing what she had to say, only because Mina guessed that there was more to her anger than meets the eye. But in the end Mina shrugged her shoulders and made her way to the Loweean CPU, leaving her guesses to herself as she placed the breakfast tray onto Blanc's desk, then as the Oracle backed off she took a glimpse at the digitised novel that Blanc was creating, she also noticed large amounts of paper littering the desk that, on closer inspection, turned out to be drafts for the novel. _She really has put a lot of her time and effort into this novel, and look at what it has done to her. Blanc barely socialises with anyone any more, she has distanced herself from her own people, she doesn't even spend a lot of time with Rom and Ram. Blanc has changed, and I'm getting worried for her._ Mina thought as she looked at Blanc, feeling sorry for the Loweean Goddess.

Blanc looked up at her Oracle, noticing how quiet she sounded and the occasional glance at the computer screen, the novel bare for her to see. The Loweean CPU blushed due to embarrassment, silently wishing that no one could read her novel at that moment. However, to Blanc's surprise Mina appeared to be interested with it, which was saying a lot due to how many criticisms Blanc would receive for all the novels she had written and managed to get to a book convention – all of them failed to even be mentioned, and Blanc was too embarrassed to even attempt to publish them. It seemed that Mina was quite interested in what Blanc had typed up. "Um, d-do you like it?" Blanc asked Mina nervously. Half of her mind wanted to hear Mina's opinion on it, but the other half did not and just wanted to hide it from her, just as she had done for several years.

To add further shock Mina nodded and beamed a small smile at the Loweean CPU. "Yes, in fact I think it's looking pretty good so far," the Oracle said as she looked at Blanc. "Although there is a little room for improvement, such as making the paragraphs a little bigger, and then there is the fact that their meeting is a little… dull."

The brown haired goddess glared at Mina and snarled. "Dull?! It's based of real life events! I should know that because it happened to me!" The short, angry outburst was unexpected and was met with an awkward silence between the two of them, this only lasted a minute or two before Blanc looked away with shame. "I-I'm sorry, Mina, I'm not sure what came over me."

Mina stared sternly at the Loweean CPU for a moment, whether she was judging Blanc or was thinking about her action without judgement was hard to say. Eventually the Oracle sighed and leaned up against the desk, her gaze was constantly directed towards Blanc. "Tell me, Blanc, do you miss Brian?" Mina asked. The glasses-wearing Oracle of Lowee already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it from Blanc.

"What sort of question is that? Of course I damn miss him! I… I… I'm sorry, I'm just get a bit touchy about it," Blanc replied in a depressed tone, her knees know up against her chin and her arms were wrapped around her legs. "I understand why he had to leave, but he never came back to see us, not even once, not even a damn letter or any sort of message was sent. I miss him. Why did you ask me that anyway? You already know how I feel about Brian."

Mina nodded. "I know that, but I just wanted to hear you say it so my thoughts were correct." The Oracle then sighed sadly and looked away, her grip on the table edge tightened and a pained expression appeared on her face. "I know what it's like to have loved and to have lost. You are not the only one who feels like you do right now."

Blanc looked up at Mina, surprised she even knew how she felt. Then it hit her. "Wait a minute, are you saying you were in love?" Blanc asked in a surprised tone.

The Oracle of Lowee chuckled in amusement as she looked back at the Loweean CPU. "Is it such a surprise? Most people fall in love at least once in their lives, well, not all people do but some if not most do. I was in love once, but it was quite some time ago. Would you like to know about it?" Blanc nodded, and soon began to listen to Mina's short tale about her love. "It all started back in high school; most relationships usually start there and continue onwards for a long period of time, and mine was no different. It wasn't love at first sight, in fact we didn't even like each other when we first met, there was just something about each other that we didn't like, and because of that we voiced our distaste for one another. Eventually things started to cool down between us when I saw him have a heart attack; it was the first time I found out that he had a serious heart condition. I helped him recover from the operation and a mutual friendship grew from that, then I guess a year or two after that we fell in love."

Blanc was rather stunned at first, to hear that Mina had fallen in love during high school was not something she had expected to hear, in fact the Loweean CPU had never thought about her Oracle being in love at all until now. "What happened next? Did the two of you confess your feelings?"

Mina nodded, but there was a depressingly sad look on her face. "Yes, we did, but our relationship did not last long. It lasted about a couple of months, maybe six in total, before he suffered from another heart attack. He never recovered. That was the end of my love life. After all that I had been through I was unable to love anyone else like that again, for I was always afraid that I would lose them, like I had lost him."

The Loweean Goddess could see the tears start to swell at the corners of the Oracle's eyes, the pain from recalling her past love life had been almost too hard to put into words and the memory still pained the Oracle. "Are you alright?" Blanc asked as she worried about Mina. "If you want to you can take the day off, I didn't mean for you to get upset."

Mina sniffed and wiped her face with the cuff of her right sleeve, smiling at the Loweean CPU. "I'll be fine, Lady Blanc, thank you for worrying about me but I can handle the day-to-day affairs again. Just remember this: I mean it when I say that I know how you feel, I know how it feels to lose someone you love. But the difference between us is the fact that the love of your life is still alive and is out there somewhere, while the man I love is dead and no longer in this world. Don't give up on Brian, for I doubt he has giving up on coming back to you; whether he has gone insane or has given in to his bloodlust I know he still loves you, he told me that himself before the Massacre."

Blanc stared at Mina with a surprised look upon her face, the CPU's expression then turned into a relieved look, finally there came the embarrassment as her cheeks flushed a light shade of red. "Well, that's a relief, but it is kinda embarrassing to hear that he said something like that to you. Thank you, Mina." The blue haired Oracle of Lowee smiled in response to cheering Blanc up and began to walk away, that was until the stoic, brown haired CPU called out to her. "Um, Mina, have you ever had any trouble with bad dreams lately?"

Mina, who had now returned to Blanc's side, shook her head as she looked down at the Loweean CPU. "No, not since the so-called 'Nightmare Period' that Histoire calls that occurred last year, although that should have happened some time ago now that I think about it. Why do you ask?"

"Is that so? Then that means only me, Rom and Ram are getting them, but mainly me," Blanc muttered as she looked back at her computer screen, her voice slowly becoming silent as she hugged her legs more tightly than before. "I was hoping that we weren't the only ones, but it seems like that now."

"What sort of bad dreams are you talking about?" Mina asked as she leaned up against the desk while Blanc took a long drink from her cup of tea.

Blanc scratched her head, took a few bites out of her breakfast, straightened her hat and her coat and looked back up at Mina before explaining everything she could. "Well, it's kind of hard to explain some of it since I'm not really sure about it all. However, I'll try to explain it as best as I can. These bad dreams are not exactly nightmares since they aren't all that scary, but it is sometimes frightening to witness, though there is one that can be classified as a nightmare. Sometimes the entire dream is pitch black, the only thing that can be heard when that happens is some sort of heartbeat, at least I think it is anyway. What happens next differs from time to time: sometimes nothing happens, aside from the heartbeat starting to beat faster; other times the darkness starts to go away as a beam of light breaks out in the middle of it all; although at times there isn't any darkness, instead there is just nothing which soon turns into a burning village with a hooded man in the centre, his sword dripping with blood. That was pretty creepy and too similar to a nightmare I had last year."

Mina watched as Blanc shook her head vigorously as if she was shaking away bad memories, the Oracle had a troubled expression and did not really know what to make of Blanc's bad dreams, but she remembered that the Loweean CPU had mentioned that Rom and Ram had been suffering from these bad dreams as well. _Why didn't those two say_ _anything about this to me? They usually tell me everything they know, right to the smallest detail, so to hear this from Blanc and not the twins_ _concerns me._ Mina thought, but not long afterwards it turned out that Blanc had not yet finished explaining the bad dreams, although what she had to say about the next and last part greatly worried the Loweean Oracle.

"There was one more thing about the bad dreams, something that frightens me greatly. Fortunately Rom and Ram haven't had this one yet so that's a relief. This dream… well, it's kinda like the one where a man stood in the centre of a burning village with a blood-soaked blade, but instead this was more up close and personal. At times there was fire and ice surrounding us, but most of the time there was only darkness and a bright blue colour as well; the hooded figure would stand in the centre with his eyes flaring bright blue, his glowing dark purple would be in his right hand and in the palm of his right there would either be a rocky mist, an icy mist or a red mist made of blood. He would come up to me and… and… he would stab me with his sword through the chest."

Mina could see Blanc's muscles shaking in fear as the CPU told the Oracle about the bad dreams, her voice was even becoming uneven and shook with dread. A tear ran down her face and dropped onto the left sleeve of her fur-lined white jacket. "What was most frightening about it was that the man who kept stabbing me in those bad dreams looked just like Brian, in fact I think it was him," Blanc continued, burying her face against her knees.

The blue haired Oracle rubbed Blanc's back out of sympathy, attempting to get the Loweean CPU to calm down. It worked only slightly as Blanc wiped away the tears, yet she still appeared to be grieved. Mina smiled at Blanc as the Loweean Goddess looked back at her. "Would you happen to know why you are having these bad dreams?" Mina asked Blanc.

The Loweean CPU shrugged in response. "I don't know, but oddly enough the dreams and nightmares always happen after I think about Brian a lot. Since the two of us are connected through Lowee's Sharicite I thought that if I could just think about him for a while then I might be able to locate him, or at least send a thought or two to him, but that never happened; I suppose Rom and ram also had the same idea. I guess all of our bad dreams are in response to our attempts in finding Brian. Typical."

Mina nodded sagely, agreeing with Blanc's guess. "I suppose that would be an astute answer, and one that is most likely to be correct as well. Was there anything else that was unusual with these dreams?"

Blanc nodded. "Yes, there was. Just a couple of nights ago when I was asleep I was having one of those nightmares where Brian would kill me, but something was off about it. When he walked up to me and was about to plunge his dark purple sword into my chest he dropped the blade, grabbed me by the shoulders, leaned in close to me and whispered 'help me' over and over again; he seemed frightened and kept twitching, just like he always would whenever something like his past was bothering him. I want to find him, I want to help him; I can feel the conflict within him."

"I'm sure you will meet Brian again – no, I know the two of you will meet once again. When that happens I wish the both of you the best of luck, you will need it," Mina said, smiling with care. Silence then reigned over the two as both did not know what else to say for several minutes, but neither had to say anything, they knew exactly what they were thinking and feeling. But as Mina turned around to leave Blanc's room she looked back at the Loweean Goddess, glancing at her and the breakfast tray. "By the way, you should finish off the rest of your breakfast, it will go cold soon."

"What? Oh, right, that's a good idea. Thank you for making breakfast, Mina," Blanc replied, swiftly grabbing the tray and brought it closer to her, beginning to consume what food was left over. It amused the Oracle about how Blanc could change from being depressed and sad to being hungry. After looking back at the Loweean CPU for a few minutes Mina finally left the oversized room, entering the hallway and leaving Blanc behind to her own devices, but her concern for the goddess still remained.

* * *

When Mina arrived in her office she was in for a bit of a surprise. After roaming through the white and blue coloured hallways of the Basilicom for a short while, stopping off by the kitchen to get herself something to snack on, Mina finally arrived in her office, bypassed some large piles of paperwork that she nor Blanc had signed yet, sat down on her chair and discovered that there was a video message icon flashing in the centre of the screen. The Loweean Oracle, curious about what it was all about, clicked on it to reveal three faces appearing on her screen, taking over seventy-five percent of her screen. The three faces belonged to Histoire, Kei and Chika, the Oracles of Planeptune, Lastation and Leanbox; two out of the three of them – Histoire and Kei – had grim looks upon their faces, the mood seemed to be full of uncertainty and dread.

"Good morning," Mina greeted the other Oracles in a polite manner, hoping that it would cheer up the mood, though it did not work. "Is there something wrong? What's going on?"

Histoire looked grimly at Mina, yet her nerve remained. "Mina, has Blanc, Rom and Ram ever been to the Guild lately?" Histoire asked.

The Loweean Oracle shook her head. "No, in fact they haven't gone to the Guild for a month or two. Why? Is there something wrong with the Guilds?"

"Well, there isn't anything wrong per say, but there have been rather startling reports coming in from the Guilds nonetheless," Kei responded, folding her arms over her chest. "While things apepar normal enough there have been reports of dozens upon dozens of people flocking into the Guilds to do just one mission – as far as we can tell it's only been occurring in Planeptune and Lastation, and this was all brought to our attention by Lady Noire, IF and Victor."

Chika appeared dubious as she heard the news though. "Are you sure about that? I am unaware of anything like that happening here in Leanbox. Maybe it's just happing in your two nations and not in either Leanbox and Lowee."

"O it should be happening in both Leanbox and Lowee, trust me on this one. With what the mission that everyone is signing up for I have no doubt that this is happening on both of your countries," Kei retorted with a serious expression, gaining curious and interested looks from Mina and Chika. "From the two of you have just said I can assume that neither of you have been outside much and instead have been taking care of other businesses such as paperwork, cleaning and just taking care of the needs of others." The nods from the Loweean and Leanboxian Oracles confirmed Kei's thoughts. "I thought so. I'll admit, I was not fully aware about this either, for I was just working as per usual. Then suddenly at around eight pm last night Lady Noire came bursting into my office with a printed out sheet of paper, the details of a mission were upon it. After reading it through I could not believe my eyes."

"What was it?" Mina asked, wondering if she really wanted to know. Chika appeared to be the same, twirling around the bangs of her hair with anticipation as she awaited Kei's response. It seemed that Histoire already knew what the silver haired Oracle of Lastation was going to say due to the grim look on her face.

"The mission that the Guild had put up was a very, very large bounty for Brian the Shadow Walker's head," Kei finally said, shocking both Mina and Chika. The two of them were not expecting such a response, so the reaction that they gave was to be expected by Histoire and Kei.

"What did Lady Noire do afterwards? Is she after Brian as well?" Mina asked, her concern for the young Ancient was slowly building up as she waited for a response.

"Well, Lady Noire did seem a bit surprised, but I think she was more in shock that Brian was back and happened to still be alive somewhere in Gamindustri – at least we assume he is still alive and around somewhere. Lady Noire seemed to be in high spirits last I remembered when she informed me about the news, The image that came with the quest was rather blurry but it did not seem to be a hoax at all, in fact I can say without a doubt that the image was real." Kei then leaned away from view and the sound of the silver haired Oracle rummaging through a pile of paper was soon heard. Eventually Kei popped back into view with a picture of what looked like a young man with a brown trench coat and a hood, several stitches were visible al over the coat, the man's right arm glowed bright blue and the sword in his right hand was glowing dark purple, his eyes were flaring bright blue. There was no mistaking it, it was indeed Brian; he may have looked a little older than they last remembered but it certainly was him.

At any rate Mina and Chika were at a loss for words, even more so with all three of them when Histoire spoke her mind. "Honestly, I have no problem with the bounty being up for display in all the nation's Guilds, if people want to go out into the wild and hunt Brian down then so be it."

Mina was stunned at what Histoire was saying, she had in fact been hoping that the Oracle of Planeptune would find a way to stop the hunt, but it seems that she was all for it, just like Noire but only in a more subtle way. Out of the four Oracles of Gamindustri Mina was the one who was closest to Brian; Histoire and Brian only were together when it was of great concern, Kei hardly spent any time with the young Ancient while Chika had only spent one short amount of time with the young man. While Brian had spent most of his time in Lowee after the battle in Lastation against Lothar the Bloodthirsty he had divided his time into three parts: spend time with Blanc, spend time with Rom and Ram, and spend time helping with all the work. Since Mina took care of most of the work in the Basilicom Brian would usually spend time with the blue haired Oracle, signing paperwork while discussing all manner of subjects, in fact Mina could say that she knew the young Ancient pretty well, but not as well as Blanc, Rom and Ram though. Still, she was rather close to him, in fact some of Brian's quirks reminded Mina of the man she had once loved. At any rate, it seemed that the Oracles of Planeptune, Lastation and Leanbox were going to let the matter slide on by, not that they had much choice in the matter since they and the CPUs barely had any say as to what the Guild could have up for quests.

But there was something else that was starting to concern the Loweean Oracle, namely a deep concern surrounding the CPUs. "Um, what should we do about the goddesses? I mean, those that haven't found out about Brian's death sentence? Should we inform them before they find out on their own?"

Chika did not seem to be too bothered by this, instead she shrugged her shoulders in response, not particularly caring if the goddesses found out about the news, although she did have a legitimate reason for it – somewhat at least. "Well I guess that would not be a problem here, Vert doesn't go to the Guild nowadays so that would not be an issue, for now at least. What about the others? How will they handle it?"

"I doubt it can be avoided," Kei sighed. "All we can hope is to make sure nothing gets out of control before and after they find out about it. I am not sure how we might be able to control the situation but we must find a way, after all, we all know what would happen if Lady Blanc, or even Lady Neptune, would do."

Histoire and Mina nodded, they both knew well enough what Blanc and Neptune would do if they heard that Brian was still out in he wilderness of Gamindustri: they would go after him, at least Blanc would, it was difficult to say if Neptune would go and help the young Ancient after everything he committed. While Neptune would have slightly hesitated in the thought of finding Brian it would not be the same case for Blanc, and all four Oracles knew that very well. Mina sighed and rubbed her temples. "This is going to be troublesome, I just know it. I do not know how to prevent such a thing to not occur, but I know that it's going to be a lot of trouble to prevent Blanc, Rom and Ram from finding out about the news."

"You must find a way if you want to avoid causing a scene between the Goddesses of Lowee and the members of the Loweean Guild. At any rate, I wish you good luck, we all need it," Histoire responded. Kei and Chika nodded in agreement, then the video chat link was cut, leaving a blank screen with only a few icons on the desktop, most were filled with old reports and documents that had piled up over the last several years.

Mina slouched forward in her seat and rubbed the sides of her head in frustration, she was unable to think of a way to keep the news about Brian's bounty away from the gaze of Blanc, Rom and Ram. She sighed loudly and rubbed her temples, leaning back into her chair. "I guess I just might have to have a talk with the Guild Council and convince them to take the bounty off, maybe I could even gain some knowledge as to who posted the bounty in the first place. Yes, I better get on to that right away," Mina said to herself quietly as she turned off her computer screen, pushed her chair back and left the room after getting up. Mina's destination: the Loweean Guild.

* * *

The city of Lowee appeared to be in a normal state of affairs, well, as normal as Lowee City could be at any rate, especially since it was the most northernmost city in all of Gamindustri and was surrounded by ice and snow with little vegetation. The streets of Lowee City was filled with snow that littered the gutters, trees, grass and shrubbery, even the buildings were covered in the white snow of the north. Children frolicked around in the snow, building snowmen, throwing snowballs at one another and rode down slippery slides; people were on dates, others were working while others were crowding up in the Guild, no doubt to get a good view of what the latest missions were. Walking down the street towards the Guild from the direction of the Basiliocm was Mina, her long blue hair blew in the cold breeze as she made her way towards her destination. As the Loweean Oracle passed by several colourful mushroom-styled houses she stopped and took a long look at them, her expression turned grim and sad. Mina had once lived with the man she loved in one of those houses before he died.

Whenever Mina passed by people who went about their usual daily routines she would receive several different looks from them, though it barely bothered her now. The looks she received were a mix of wonder, distrust, approval or even a confused look, but not all of them at the same time of course. Once Mina arrived outside the Guild she passed by a few monster hunters how sounded like they were now bounty hunters, their small electronic device which was held in one of their hands had a page that was detailing the mission – it was Brian's bounty. The blue haired Oracle straightened her glasses and hat, breathed in and out heavily and entered the Guild of Lowee. The white and blue walls of the Guild glistened in the bright sunlight that shone through the large glass windows on either side of the large building complex, large pillars stretching from the ceiling to the ground took up some space in several places, billboards took up most of the space with only a small amount of touch-screen computers tucked away in a few corners. Mina could see large groups of people huddled together in front of the billboards and the touch-screen computers, nearly all of them were viewing the same bounty mission that was sweeping across all of Gamindustri.

After some time trying to find someone who was linked to the Guild staff Mina finally found a member of the staff who happened to be fixing up one of the touch-screen computers, the blue haired Oracle approached the technician and tapped her on the shoulder, gaining her attention. "Excuse me, would you happen to know where I can find a member of the Guild Council?" Mina asked.

The technician blinked her eyes rapidly, confused as to what the Loweean Oracle was asking. "Huh? Guild Council? There isn't a council, not any more at least," the long red haired technician said in response as her attention was now fully focused on Mina. "You mean to say that you and Lady White Heart aren't aware of the recent changes that occurred with the Guild recently?"

Mina shook her head, oblivious to what the redhead technician was talking about. "No, not at all. What happened?"

The technician swiftly glanced around her and Mina before leaning forward in a way that was just too suspicious. "If you don't know about the reason why the reform happened then something must be going on, and if that's the case then the hairs on the back of my neck are gonna be sticking up 'till something gets done about it. It all started about a month ago when the Guild Council were concluding a meeting about financial issues, or so we workers were told anyway. So, during this meeting the Council suddenly disbanded due to infighting, I heard it got so bad that blood was almost shed in that meeting room. However, before all of that happened the Guild was visited by some shady woman wearing black robes and a black hood; there isn't much I can say about her looks, but for some reason her eyes were pale, like they were dead or something, even her skin was pale. A couple of days after she turned up the Council disbanded, then she took over as the sole Guild Master. Funny, that's a title no one has ever used before."

The news was startling to Mina, especially about the part when a complete stranger had just taken over the Guild and had not informed either her or Blanc about the new changes. The Loweean Oracle still had one question though. "I guess I can try to get to the bottom of that later. However, is it possible for you to try to convince this new 'Guild Master' to take the bounty off from Brian the Shadow Walker? Lady Blanc has requested this." The last part was not true, but Mina hoped that it would add force to her request.

The redhead technician seemed to cringe a bit as she heard Mina say 'Brian the Shadow Walker', clearly she did not have a good opinion of him, at least it looked that way. Whether she was going to help Mina was another thing altogether however. "Well, I don't know if I can actually do that, but I'll see if I can bring it up with the boss. Don't expect anything to change though, I hold no promises that the Guild Master will actually take down the bounty, but I will try anyway."

"That's all I can ask for, thank you." Mina bowed politely and began to walk out of the Guild, passing the nearby monster hunters and bounty hunters, returning to her office in the Loweean Basilicom, hoping that Blanc, Rom and Ram never find out about the bounty on Brian's head. As the blue haired Oracle left the Guild a set of pale blue, almost dead eyes watched her from the shadows as the Oracle left the building complex and began to walk onto the street. The hooded, dead-eyed figure flexed their steel gauntlet hands and disappeared fully into the shadows of the Guild without anyone noticing, their thoughts focused on what Mina and the redhead technician had just said to each other.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the longer wait, I was hoping to get this out a few days ago but things just happened. So, how was the very short backstory for Mina? It was a bit sad I'll admit, but lately I have been interested in knowing what the Oracle's stories were, I guess this is just a step towards that direction. Also one of the reason I've been a bit distracted lately is because of a parody of Code Geass, it's called Code Ment – search it up on YouTube and watch it, it'll blow your mind. Because of that I've been watching the original anime and now I want to do a parody crossover between Neptunia and Code Geass in the future – yes, a parody based of the Neptunia franchise and the parody Code Ment, chaos will occur. Anyway, regardless of future projects, the next chapter will be out in a week or two so be ready for that. Have a good day and I'll see – read – you all next time.**


	4. The Secrets of Planeptune

**Chapter 4: The Secrets of Planeptune**

The evening began to settle in over Gamindustri as the day wore on and as the sun began to settle over the western horizon, leaving behind a yellow colour in the sky alongside the white clouds that were left behind; flocks of birds flew through the yellow sky, flying from one side of Planeptune City towards the other side and disappeared into the north. The capital city of the Land of Purple Progress was as busy as ever, but not in the usual busy way as Lastation City was at the best of times, or even Leanbox City at certain times. Most of the people were not working at local businesses, instead most of them appeared to be just roaming around aimlessly, talking amongst themselves, played in the playground, ran around playing tagging games or were drinking and eating away in pubs and whatever cafe happened to be nearby, even pudding stores.

Speaking about the pudding stores of Planeptune City there was one that was being visited by a certain lilac haired goddess, who was sampling more sugary treats than she should have been while being chastised, poorly, by Nepgear. The purple goddess was happily eating her way through her fifth dish of pudding, savouring the taste of the sugary delight as she munched away with a look of pure joy. "Mmmhmm, this is just delicious!" Neptune exclaimed blissfully, her eyes sparkling. "C'mon, just eat up already, Nep Jr."

The CPU Candidate of Planeptune look at the small plate in front of her on the glass table, the plate had a large pudding that consisted of a creamy white colour alongside chocolate with a various amount of multicoloured sprinkles inside and outside the treat, a few scoopfuls of vanilla ice cream surrounded the base of the pudding, it definitely looked like something that would cause teeth damage if one was to consume too much of it in one day. Nevertheless, Nepgear picked up her spoon and began to eat the pudding, she appeared to like the taste. The pudding was just a normal chocolate pudding but with more cream, chocolate sprinkles and with ice cream as well, but despite it looking rather normal and bland at first it was very tasty, and very sugary – the ice cream was also a part of the ingredients for the pudding, something that added to the overall taste. Nepgear quickly ate the rest of the pudding with delight, the taste leaving a feeling in her mouth and brain that just wanted more, the expression she had on her face proved it.

Neptune grinned, looked over towards the store and waved at the owner of the pudding store, calling out to him. "Yo! Mister pudding store guy! More pudding over here for us!" Neptune called out cheerfully, forgetting her manners.

The store owner laughed and brushed off the Planeptunian CPU's manners, he was used to it by now. The store owner was a young-looking man who had dark grey hair and green eyes, his short hair was hidden underneath a crumpled and battered chefs hat, a white apron was worn over his red collared shirt and brown pants, his shoes were white with light purple lining. He gave Neptune and Nepgear a nod before he began to rummage through the stand, grabbing out two different puddings that appeared to be more like caramel, the store owner then began to move items around behind the store front, grabbing a freshly cleaned ice cream scooper before scooping chocolate ice cream out of a display tray and onto the plates. The pudding store owner walked out back outside through the open doorway to the two goddesses and placed the two fresh plates onto the table before taking the empty plates and used spoons back with him, depositing them in the sink and began to wash them up to a cleaner state. He appeared to be at peace with what he was doing, as if he was content with life and was going to live it to the fullest with his current occupation.

Neptune and Nepgear meanwhile were content with the amount of pudding they were receiving and eating, at least Neptune was, Nepgear was more or less concerned about what would happen to them afterwards when they managed to stop eating pudding for the day, and that was a big 'if' question. The purple goddess was practically drooling as she stared at her latest pudding, her excitement was too hard to control, the pudding was just begging to be eaten in her eyes. Neptune stabbed the new, clean spoon into the mixed flavour and coloured sugary delight that was laying in front of her, scooping up a spoonful of pudding and quickly ate what she could without delay. Nepgear was a lot more careful with how she ate her pudding, instead of just gobbling it down as swiftly as possible the Candidate chose to eat her afternoon dessert much more slowly so she could avoid having stomachaches and headaches later on during the course of the day.

"You're eating it too slowly, my dear Nep Jr," Neptune said to her younger sister before scoffing her face with even more pudding. "It's just too delicious to eat slowly you know. Just stuff your face with it and enjoy it while it lasts, my dear sister of mine."

The Candidate glanced at her older sister and chuckled nervously. "Um, I think it would be more prudent if you ate your pudding a little more slowly so you do not suffer from any side effects in the near future. You wouldn't want to get a headache or something, would you?" The pudding store owner nodded without taking his gaze of the washing up before him, sagely agreeing with Nepgear after she said what she had to say. The CPU Candidate noticed this and pointed over to him. "See? Even the store owner agrees. You have to stop eating puddings eventually for the rest of the day."

The amethyst eyed CPU looked over at the two of them for a short moment before cracking up in a loud laughter that echoed down the street, gaining the attention of everyone around them whether they were in different stores of were just wandering around, their attention was quickly focused on Neptune, Nepgear and the pudding store that they were eating at. The Candidate blushed with the attention that was focused on her while Neptune did not really seem to care, especially when she continued to laugh jokingly until it turned into ragged breathing that occurred between heavy chuckles. "Hah, that was funny, to me at least from the looks of it," Neptune muttered as she glanced at Nepgear, the pudding store owner and the various groups of people who passed by them with confused looks on their faces. But the Goddess of Planeptune did not care if she was receiving mixed looks from those who passed the pudding store, she then shrugged and finished off the last of her pudding before looking back at the dark grey haired store owner. "Another one, mister!"

The store owner sighed and shook his head. "You're gonna eat all of my pudding supplies at this rate, Lady Purple Heart," he said in an exasperated tone, although it did sound sarcastic and he did not appear to be serious with his words.

"Ah lighten up, mister pudding-store-owner-with-no-name-'cause-you're-a-minor-character-with-no-plot-development," Neptune chuckled with a cheery expression as she broke the fourth wall yet again, and also slightly insult the grey haired man without the intention to do so.

Nepgear was quick to pick up on this. "Er, Neptune, I think you just insulted the owner of the store. You should apologise to him," she said to her older sister, a concerned look was upon her face.

The pudding store owner did not seem to mind it though, instead he appeared to be in a good mood. He laughed from his spot behind the counter, his arms were resting on top of the counter while he gazed at the two CPUs of Planeptune, a small smile was on his face. "Heh, I don't mind it, it's just a part of Lady Purple Heart's personality after all. Anyway, are you two going to pay up? Even though the two of you are the rulers of Planeptune, at least Lady Purple Heart is supposed to be the ruler, I cannot let the two of you just leave here without paying anything."

The two CPUs of the Land of Purple Progress chuckled sheepishly as they returned their gaze to the store owner, they knew he was not being completely serious but he did have a good point nonetheless. Neptune and Nepgear did indeed had to pay for all of the pudding they had eaten, but it seemed that the patron CPU of Planeptune was not yet finished with her pudding holiday. "Oh c'mon already, I ain't finish with this adventure yet," Neptune boasted, thumping the air with a clenched fist.

"I'm sure you can, but I sell pudding for a living to all the people in Planeptune, not just to the Goddesses you know. And before you ask, no, I am not going to give you all discounts just because you are the rulers of this land," the pudding store owner informed Neptune and Nepgear, his voice stern and serious for once. "Also, Lady Purple Heart, if you keep eating like that then you will eventually be sick sooner or later, trust me on that."

"I'll be fine, have no fear me ol' store owner," Neptune giggled as she scoffed what was left of the pudding down her mouth, swallowing the last of her sugary delight. Not long afterwards she groaned in pain as her stomach rumbled, indicating that her stomach was in pain. The purple goddess slouched forward as she clutched her stomach, groaning to herself and doing her best to ignore the laughter from the pudding store owner as well as the giggling from her younger yet more mature sister. "Hey, don't be rude to me and all that to me you know. C'mon, we're friends and all, aren't we? Ergh."

The store owner raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Friends? Heh, you're funny, Lady Purple Heart. I'm just a citizen of Planeptune who pays his taxes, sells pudding for a living and puts his faith in the CPUs of Planeptune. Now then, are either of you going to pay for all of the puddings you ate?"

Nepgear nodded as she stood up and reached for her wallet while walking towards the store counter. "I'll pay, it's the least I can do for all of the trouble we've caused."

"Think nothing of it, I'm just glad that I even get business in this part of the city," the pudding store owner responded with a perky smile and a kind tone. He was handed several credits, which he then placed in his cash register before looking back at the CPU Candidate. "Thank you very much for coming down here, I honestly don't get many customers these days, in fact I think the two of you are the only ones I get in a regular basis."

Nepgear smiled at the store owner, cheering the young man up. "Don't worry about it, we needed to come here anyway." Then her expression became sheepish and she chuckled to herself whilst scratching the back of her head; she had said something she did not want to.

"Hmm? Needed to come here? Whatever for? Surely it just isn't the need for Lady Purple Heart to sample all of my puddings," the grey haired man said in a curious tone, an eyebrow raised. "What's the need? If it involves pudding I may be of some assistance, although I'm getting the feeling that this is a private matter."

"No, No it's alright, it was a need for pudding. Neptune needed to be cheered up is all, nothing to worry about," Nepgear said reassuringly to the store owner honestly, although why she did not know, but she soon came to the conclusion that he, as a citizen, deserved to know. "Neptune has been a little sad lately, so I thought getting some pudding for her would be a good idea, though I should have guessed it would end like this."

"Yeah, I guess it always would end up like this. Anyway, I don't want to keep the two of you waiting around all day talking, so have a good day and thanks again for the business." The pudding store owner smiled at both Neptune and Nepgear as they made their away from the pudding store and roamed down the road, disappearing from sight within several minutes of their departure. The grey haired store owner sighed and leaned back into his store. "I hope they will be all right, these days it's hard to tell if the people will just start rebelling or merely protest, Either way, I hope nothing bad happens, those CPUs are the main source of business."

Meanwhile the two Goddesses of Planeptune roamed down the streets of their city, admiring the cool breeze that blew through the air and flew against their faces, it barely blew their hair but it did feel a little forceful, nonetheless the feeling of the light wind was pleasing. As they passed down another corner and turned towards a street where all of the shopping needs of the Planeptunian City citizens were located the CPUs had to pass the large groups of people who had come to the mall, cafes and others stores for the day, the looks they received were yet again mixed between distaste, empathy, distrust, questioning and even wonder. Barely anyone would bow in politeness to them, nor did anyone top to say hello; there were a few nods and even a wave but that was about it for Neptune and Nepgear. The CPU Candidate appeared nervous from the glancing and would occasionally look away so as to avoid the eyesight of anyone who was glaring at them, Neptune on the other hand seemed bothered by it all, but only her appearance showed this, inside the purple goddess she was experiencing something else entirely. She was afraid, and for good reasons; she had also came to a conclusion about something as well.

 _So this is what Brian felt like whenever he passed by these people after the incident at the Basilicom, I always wondered what it felt like. I don't like it. I should have done something to lighten up the situation after Brian first gained the power to use Share Energy and destroyed a part of the area outside and inside the Basilicom, maybe then we wouldn't be in this mess. This is all my fault._ Neptune thought to herself as she glanced away from the glaring look of a person who walked passed them, her glaring gaze directed at the patron CPU of Planeptune herself – as it turned out the woman had in fact lost her son during the attack upon the Basilicom by Lothar the Bloodthirsty and Kharzark the Interrogator, and her daughter during the Massacre of Haruno Village. Neptune did her best to ignore the grief-stricken and angry mother, though it was hard for her to do, but the thought of what Brian had to go through with these people on a daily basis during his time in Planeptune City still flowed through her mind.

Nepgear noticed the stern and saddened look upon Neptune's face, the CPU Candidate's concerns for her older sister had been flamed anew now that she has seen that look on the purple goddess's face. "Hey, Neptune, are you alright? You're looking down again," Nepgear asked.

Neptune looked up at her younger sister, grinned brightly and stuck up her thumb to say that she was doing well, but she wasn't and the senior CPU of Planeptune knew that her sister knew it as well. Nonetheless Neptune wanted to allay Nepgear's worries. "I'm absolutely dandy, my beloved little sister of mine, it's just the remnants of the stomach ache that's bothering me is all," Neptune replied to Nepgear, keeping up her fake smile with a light-hearted laugh.

The CPU Candidate of Planeptune did not fully believe her older sister and raised an eyebrow in suspicion towards her, but in the end she sighed and kept her thoughts to herself, it was not as if Neptune would listen to them anyway or pay them any heed. In the end Nepgear decided to go along with her older sister, mainly because she did not want to cause a scene in public. Instead the Candidate changed the topic of discussion as they passed a ramen store – the very same ramen store that IF had taken Brian to during his tour of the city. "If you say so. By the way, do you think Plutia and Angel would be back from all those Guild quests they undertook earlier today?"

Neptune shrugged, silently pleased that the topic had been changed. "Yeah, I think they would be back by now. Those two probably want to play a few hours of some game or two when we get back, at least I know Angel will, Plutie would probably go to sleep by the time she gets back. Funny, she gets more tired on certain days, just like what happened a couple of weeks ago. Remember when Plutie-pie slept through half the day? I think Angie looked a little tired as well come to think of it."

"I remember that," Nepgear replied, nodding her head in agreement. "What do you think happened between the two of them to make they sleepier than they already are? Come to think of it, weren't there some strange noises that came from their room during that time as well?"

Neptune thought hard about it, she scratched her chin thoughtfully and hummed to herself as they turned down another corner in the direction of the Basilicom, then a thought it her. The purple goddess's cheeks turned slight red before a cheeky expression formed across her face." Oh my, how lewd. Hehehehe," Neptune chuckled, hugging her arms and expressing her inner troll.

This all just confused Nepgear, and she made it pretty clear that she had no idea what her older sister was on about. "Huh? Lewd? What do you mean? What have they been doing?" Nepgear did seem to be rather innocent, but she did have some sort of idea as to what Neptune was on about, but only slightly though.

"Meh, it doesn't matter much. Come on, we better get back and entertain Plutie, Angie, P-ko and Histy, those three are incomplete without us. Let's-a-go!" Neptune exclaimed enthusiastically, thumping the air with a clenched fist as she jumped ahead, leaving little time for her younger sister to catch up as they neared the Basilicom of Planeptune.

* * *

As the sun began to set over Gamindustri, thus ending yet again another day, a lonesome blonde fairy upon a tome sat in her office, signing paperwork and looked over old documents whenever the need came upon her to do so. This was Histoire, who was called the living history of Gamindustri since the end of the Ancient Era and the beginning of the Goddess Era; although her knowledge and memory of this was all but gone, causing her to be more than a bit concerned for her lack of memory and knowledge on the matter of her past, even the lack of any knowledge of the events that unfolded from the transition of one era to another shook her faith for her own wisdom. At that moment in time as the sun began to disappear over the western horizon Histoire was busy signing paperwork, but her attention span was always being distracted by some of the old documents that she and Angel had recovered – Histoire had hired Angel as an unwilling worker in the hope that Neptune could begin to see that if her friends could work hard then so could she, the result was just as anyone had expected: it did not work in the slightest. However, during a cleaning up operation in some of the old and unused rooms on the lower levels of the Basilicom they had discovered dozens upon dozens of old documents dating back to the founding of Planeptune; this is what Histoire had been looking over for the last several hours.

Many of the old documents had survived the test of time and were a great source of reading for the tome fairy, especially when she found Uranus' journal about her experiences of being a CPU, the troubles she had to face, the success she reaped and the friendships she had forged. The journal was of a purple colour with a heavily worn out band that sealed the book, the pages appeared to be almost worn out but readable. One other old document was a charter that concerned the founding of Planeptune, another was an actual constitution that explained the laws, customs and general management of Planeptune. As Histoire held Uranus' journal in her hands she sighed depressingly, her fond memories of Uranus, the first CPU of Planeptune, were always on her mind. Historie was soon disturbed by the thumping sounds of Angel marching into her office, he was carrying two cardboard boxes underneath his arms, a worn out expression adorned his face and sweat formed around his forehead; Angel had been working for several hours ever since he and Plutia got back from doing Guild quests, not to mention the amount of time he had spent with the CPUs of Planeptune and Ultra Planeptune playing games. The young sadist placed the boxes next to Histoire's desk and looked back up at her as he stood up straight.

"There, that's the last of them," Angel informed Histoire. The sadistic god then noticed all of the large opened and unopened cardboard boxes, paperwork and files that littered the already large office, the amount that cluttered the office made it almost hard to move around. "Anything else you needed from me, Histoire? I don't intend to do this all day, I do have other things to attend to."

"I understand that, but can you at least please help me unpack these boxes before you leave to laze around?" Historie asked as politely as she could. "I would appreciate the assistance, that is if you are willing to continue helping me out."

Angel sighed and cracked his neck, disturbing the tome fairy in the process. "Very well then, I'll continue to help out until later. Besides, Plutia would be asleep by now, Peashy would just tackle me out of affection and both Neptune and Nepgear would just attempt to get me to do more cleaning for them."

"So this is the safer option for you then?" Histoire asked as she signed off some more paperwork and placed it all neatly in a tray beside her to the right.

Angel nodded as he bent down and opened one of the cardboard boxes he had brought in just before. "Yeah, I guess that's one way you could put it I suppose. I'll divide them into groups and let you deal with it from then, of that's okay with you though."

The tome fairy nodded and began to look through some of the smaller boxes that were brought in, dividing them into different piles based on age, work related, documents involving the country of Planeptune, old paperwork and other items of interest. It was tiring work for the two of them, and Angel could not find a more boring thing to do during the evening than this, although he stuck at it and continued on with his promise. However, everything that the two of them found intrigued them immensely. The brown haired young man opened yet another cardboard box and began to rummage through it when he came across some old books, all of which were full of dust and grime, but nonetheless readable, the title of some of the books were quite surprising since most of them appeared to have been handwritten by an unprofessional writer and not a publisher. As Angel began to read through them he soon realised that these were not just any type of book that one would find in a library, instead these were more akin to a journal. Histoire noticed the lack of movement from the young man and floated over to him on her tome to see what he was doing, when the blonde fairy saw Angel reading through the books she sighed, but her memories were that of good times.

"Ah yes, those books were handwritten by Uranus herself," Histoire explained fondly as she looked at the writing. "I think this was the book she was writing about that explained the history of Planeptune, but it was never completed due to her untimely death in Lastation alongside Minerva of Lastation, Venus of Leanbox and Bellona of Lowee. Uranus was always fond of history, she always wanted an explanation for everything, spanning from why were were here, who created Gamindustri, how the Hyperdimension was first created and what races were here before humans and CPUs."

"Did she get far with those questions at all?" Angel asked with curiosity, his gaze now fixed upon Histoire. "From how you were explaining things during the Dark Captain Crisis last year this Uranus person managed to answer some of them at least."

Histoire shrugged her shoulders in response. "I have no idea, she was rather secretive and preferred to show me the final product rather than any work in progress products. Uranus was always curious about the past, so most of the notebooks she compiled together reflected that interest, although many said that she was too interested in the past. I remember one time when Uranus was supposed to be doing work but instead she was searching up the history of some old race, now that I think about it I can only presume that Uranus was searching up the history of the Ancients. I wonder if she managed to find anything?"

"Does she have a journal?" Angel asked.

The tome fairy nodded and floated over back to her desk to retrieve Uranus' journal, when she returned the two of them began to search through the surprisingly well written and almost completed journal, hoping to find an answer to Angel's question as well as for their own curiosity. Uranus' journal was filled with all sorts of information regarding the founing of Planeptune, how a war was avoided between the four countries of Gamindustri, her own personal opinions about the role of a goddess and how she viewed it, then there was information about her opinion towards the other goddesses as well as Histoire – all of which were in good regard. After rushing through the old book Histoire and Angel finally came across what they were looking for. In the journal Uranus had described some of her findings concerning Gamindustri's past, specifically the events that occurred around the end of the Ancient Era and the beginning of the Goddess Era, but there was hardly anything noteworthy in it. That was until Angel and Historie came across Uranus' last journal entry, this was what they had been looking for and what was written on the old piece of paper shocked them.

 _August 8th, 1766 GE, Planeptune City_

 _It has been weeks since my last journal entry, and I now remember why: I'm running out of space in this book to write anything or even draw diagrams of my findings. A bit of a bummer really. Today was just tiring for me due to al of the work that was thrown upon me by Histoire; I hold no grudge towards that beloved tome fairy, she is merely doing what she believes to be right, and I cannot fault her for that. The workload was larger than I had originally anticipated, although I managed to get through it within a couple of hours, though it meant that I had less time to play my latest game for my console -a damn pity really, I was looking forward to it._

 _However, during my time with the paperwork and documents I discovered a report from a traveller that indicated that there were some old ruins along the rugged hills and forests around the Planeptune-Lastation border, so I went to check it out. To my amazement I discovered what I believe to be a site from the Ancient Era. I believe this to be the case due to some old writing that I found carved in some places in one of the rooms. From an overhead view it it hard to tell that there is anything here, but only due to how the forces nature have retaken the land over the last seventeen hundred years. It was just breathtaking to behold. From what short amount of time I could put into my search I believe that this old site was once a fortress that was under the command of the Ancients, but there is little else about it that I know, although I did discover many large underground caverns and caves that connected to each other at certain points. Maybe old storage facilities? Perhaps places where people would go to seek shelter during a siege? Maybe both? I don't know, all I can do is guess, but it was amazing nonetheless._

 _One other point of interest was what I had found closer to home. I am starting to believe that Planeptune may have been built on a much, much older site, possibly dating back to the Ancient Era or to some point in the early Goddess Era. When the foundations of this Basilicom were laid we might have forgotten to check if there was anything else around the area before all of the concrete was placed onto the ground, if we had checked properly we would have found I had just discovered._

 _There is a vault hidden in the earth beneath this Basilicom. I first discovered this vault when a section of the foundation in an old storage room on the lower floor gave way and collapsed, although it was nothing too serious so any worries for the future of the Basiliocm are for naught._

 _However, it was what that I found inside this vault that amazed me. I discovered a large steel door that was utterly and completely rusted with age but still able to function properly as a door due to some old magic, fixed into the concrete wall was a slab of stone with a power symbol embedded into it. Out of instinct I placed my hand upon the seal, that was when I was in for a shock. The power symbol seal channelled my Share Energy and incorporated it into itself, then it began to glow brightly and the door opened; when I gazed inside I felt as if no one had entered this part of the vault for nearly two thousand years, it made my blood freeze and my hair stand on end. Since I am running out of space to write anything further I will only say one thing about what I saw: it was wondrous, but also chilling._

Angel closed the journal and looked at Histoire, both of them were thinking the same thing: the vault that Uranus had discovered. "Did you know about this hidden vault underneath the Basilicom?" Angel asked.

The tome fairy shook her head. "No, I was not aware of it. Before you ask why I was not aware of this or why Uranus never told me about it I should explain to you that when Uranus wrote this on the night of the 8th of August she had to go to Lastation the next day with Venus and Bellona to stop a rampaging Minerva, that was the 9th of August, it was also the day when they all died. I still remember the day I was informed about their deaths, I was heartbroken by the news, we all were."

The Oracle of Planeptune sighed in a saddened way, her expression indicated how sad and depressed she was. Angel, noticing this, tried to smile but found it uncomfortable, so instead he patted the Oracle's head. "Do you want to check out the vault before dinner gets ready? We still have some time before the moon is fully in the sky," the young man asked Histoire, hoping it would cheer her up somehow.

It worked successfully as the blonde Oracle smiled at Angel. "Very well then, let us check it out and see what Uranus had discovered down there. I think it is best if you go and inform the others about this. I will meet you down in the storage room on the ground floor."

* * *

As Angel and Histoire were reading through Uranus' worn-out journal a much more different and personal conversation was occurring in Neptune's room. The patron Goddess of Planeptune was sitting down on her lilac coloured office chair, her elbows were resting on the desk while her hands were underneath her chin, her gaze was directed towards the computer screen in front of her. Neptune of was having a conversation with Blanc, which was a rather strange sight to behold since the Planeptunian CPU would normally be talking to Noire in an attempt to annoy her in some way or she would be playing games out in the living room with Nepgear, Plutia or Angel, or even all three at times. As per her usual self Neptune had a perky and cheerful expression on her face, she appeared to be in a good mood overall. Blanc on the other hand was just like her stoic and expressionless self, except there was a hint of sadness in her eyes which did not escape Neptune's attention at all.

The conversation the two were having appeared to be light-hearted in nature and words, although it sounded as if Neptune was doing most of the talking while Blanc was merely replying with short answers and questions. The topics varied between mamy things concerning themselves and Gamindustri, yet they had not touched the subjects which Blanc would find to be a bit 'touchy'. That was to going to last for too long though.

"So, you wanna head on down to Planeptune so we can hang out for the night?" Neptune asked Blanc cheerfully.

The stoic CPU of the north shook her head. "No, thank you for asking though," Blanc replied politely. "I'm too busy with certain matters. I am sorry, Neptune, but I cannot come over to your Basilicom for a sleepover."

Neptune's cheery smile merely brightened and her curiosity peeked as a result. "Oh don't worry 'bout it, I ain't bothered by it. Actually, what are you doing in that frozen palace of yours? Let me guess, you're trying to write another novel aren't you?" The flustered look she received from Blanc was a good enough answer. "Aha! I thought so! Aren't you supposed to be a bad writer? Shouldn't you just give up if that's the case?"

The Loweean Goddess growled and glared viciously at Neptune. "Tch, damn you to hell! I am not bad at writing books! My work is just… er, it's just too good for everyone else in this world, even you and the other goddesses. Got it?"

"Just too good for us? Heh, you're funny, Blanc. Maybe you're right; perhaps your stories are just too weird and unrealistic that it is too good for us to understand and appreciate," Neptuen said with an obvious cheeky tone, and Blanc knew it. "Anyway, what are you writing about this time?"

"Why should you care?" Blanc asked in response, continuing to glare at the purple goddess.

"'Cause we're friends, and friends have gotta stick together in these difficult times. Besides, we flatties have to stick together as well," was Neptune's response, she then winked at Blanc with a cheeky look on her face, preparing for the onslaught of curse words that the Loweean CPU would yell at her.

To Neptune's surprise Blanc did not do that, instead she looked away for a few moments as she composed herself, but the Planeptunian CPU could still see the mildly angry look in her eyes, indicating that Neptune had indeed hit a soft spot. Nevertheless she seemed prepared to answer Neptune's question about her book. "W-Well, the novel is about this heroine who meets the hero after he falls from the sky, but that doesn't happen until chapter seven. Together the two of them travel around the world in an attempt to overthrow a tyrannical god who has enslaved the people of the world. That's about it I'm afraid, I'm still going over the detail of the plot, but essentially it's an adventure and romance novel with, hopefully, plot twists that will ravel the readers. Does it sounds good to you?"

The purple goddess hummed to herself in an almost quiet tone as she mulled over the plot of Blanc's novel before giving an answer. "Well, I guess it sounds good; I don't read a lot so I wouldn't know squat about much book plot and all that. Although, falling out of the sky and meeting him soon afterwards… are you using events that happened to you as a basis for this book of yours?"

Blanc nodded. "Yes, I am. What of it?"

"Oh nothing much, was just wondering why you were using pieces of your past with Brian as a means to come up with a plot. Do you really miss him that much?" Neptune asked with curiosity as she flicked her hair around for fun.

The Loweean CPU glanced away sadly and twiddled her fingers around, when she spoke Neptune could hear the sadness in her tone. "Of course I miss him, I might hate him for what he as done but I still love him, and that is a given. You would understand how I feel if you loved someone who you have not seen for a year, I guarantee it."

Neptune nodded sagely. "Yeah, you're probably right. Hey, I did actually have a crush on Brian, so I do miss him like you do, well, kinda anyway, not in the way you miss him I suppose."

Then came the awkward silence between the CPUs of Planeptune and Lowee, neither knew what to say next or what to do either. After what seemed like a long time of silence Blanc broke it with a question. "Do you still have those feelings for Brian?" she asked Neptune, silently hoping that the Planeptunian Goddess did not.

To Blanc's relief Neptune shook her head. "No, but it took a while to get rid of those feelings. If Brian hadn't gone to Lowee and isntead chose to stay in Planeptune for a while longer then maybe we wouldn't be in this mess, maybe everything would be normal like in the old days before the Dark Captains arrived."

"If that were the case then Brian and I would not have fallen for each other. Just be grateful for all the happiness and good memories that you got out of that crisis, I certainly did," Blanc informed Neptune, doing her best to make herself sound wise.

"Yeah, but look where it's gotten you. You can't stop thinking about him," Neptune responded, causing Blanc to blush madly as she stammered. Clearly Neptune was right.

Just before Blanc could say anything else, or before Neptune could go on with her teasing streak, the bedroom door swung wide open to reveal Angel in the doorway, the young man had an expressionless look upon his face which hid the urgency of his mission. When the sadist walked up to Neptune he looked over to the computer screen and noticed Blanc looking at him, Angel nodded a 'hello' at her, which was politely returned. Blanc and Angel had not been on the best of terms ever since the Massacre of Haruno Village, so any conversation between the two was short and straight to the point. Angel then returned his attention to Neptune.

"Neptune, we need you down in the storage room on the ground level and as soon as possible," Angel explained in little detail to the purple goddess. "Come on, let's get going already."

Neptune did not appear to be completely alright with the news though. "Oh c'mon, I was having a friendly chat with Blanc before you showed up. Why do you need me down at a storage room? If it's for cleaning then forget it, Angie."

"It isn't for cleaning, it is for a different matter entirely. Come one, this won't take too long, but you better come along with me now; Plutia, Nepgear, Peashy and Histoire are already heading down there." Angel then began to walk away back towards the doorway, beckoning impatiently for Neptune to follow him. "Come on and hurry up, or else you'll have nothing but eggplants for dinner."

The Goddess of Planeptune groaned depressingly before looking back at Blanc. "Sorry, Blanny, but looks like this protagonist is going to go and do some cleaning or whatever. I'll catch up with you later. Ohm and good luck with that novel of yours."

"Thank you, and goodbye," Blanc replied with a small smile as the connection was cut, leaving an impatient sadist and a slightly tired Planeptunian Goddess to themselves. With a groan Neptune got off her chair and followed Angel to the elevator.

* * *

"So, this is the vault that you two were jabbing on about?" Neptune asked Angel and Histoire as they stood in front of the heavily rusted and worn-out door that was described in Uranus' journal. "Doesn't look like much to me."

"Steady on, Neptune. You haven't seen what's inside it yet," Nepgear said to her older sister in a reassuring voice along with a smile. "For all we know whatever is behind this door could be something awesome, like some sort of mecha or something from some period hundreds of years ago. Now that would be great to see!"

Plutia, however, did not seem so sure about it, but she did not show it. "Well, whatever floats your boat, Neppy Jr," the petite goddess said with her usual sleepy smile. She then yawned loudly before covering up her mouth. "Sorry, but I'm tired." Plutia then leaned up against Angel and almost fell asleep.

Angel did not mind the affectionate attention he was given by Plutia, instead he appeared to welcome it, even if it came from Peashy – who incidentally was sitting behind the young man's neck with her legs on either side of her head, her arms wrapped gently around his neck. Nonetheless he had a job to do. "So, this seal right here, it kinda looks like something the Ancients would use. Why would it be here of all places? Was there an Ancient settlement here where Planeptune was founded?" Angel asked.

Historie shrugged her shoulders. "Who can say? Regardless if the Ancients were here or not, we should get this door open to see what was inside. I think getting in is rather straightforward: someone with Share Energy needs to channel their energy into the seal to open the door, any CPU can do it. So, who is it going to be?"

The CPUs looked at each other, each wondering who was going to open the sealed door. Just before Nepgear could move forward to unlock the seal her older sister stepped forward to do the job. "I'll do it," Neptune said defiantly as she neared the seal. Once she stood in front of it the Planeptunian CPU extended the palm of her right hand onto the power symbol seal and pressed her hand against it, then she began to channel her Share Energy into the seal. The power symbol glowed bright in a bright blue colour and after a few seconds the door slid open, creaking and groaning as it disappeared into the concrete to reveal what was hidden inside. Neptune peered through for a moment before looking back at the rest of the group with a smile. "Protagonists first!"

With that said Neptune bounced into the vault until she was standing in the centre of the underground room, as she gazed around her the CPU of Planeptune saw things that she did not know existed in Gamindusti. Containers of weapons, armour, old tomes, jewellery, art and old computer systems were scattered all around her and the group as the rest of them entered the vault, on closer inspection some of the weapons appeared to have some dried up blood stains upon the blades. But what was most amazing and shocking about the discovery was the fact that barely any of the items hidden in the underground vault had been affected by the passing of time, it was as if some sort of old magic belonging to an extinct race had kept the place untouched by the ravages of time itself. Nepgear began to search through the container that held the mechanical parts with great interest, it was not what she had expected but it interested her nonetheless. Angel, Plutia and Peashy searched through the weaponry and armour as carefully as they could, what they hoped to find even they did not know.

Neptune and Histoire then strolled over to where the art was located, and what they found was both interesting and deeply unsettling. There were two paintings that peeked both of their interests, the first painting was a picture of a wasteland with a heavily ruined city and a large tower in the centre, at the base it looked as if there was a battle occurring and a duel was happening atop the tower. The duel was between a tall, black steel armoured person with a large sword and red energy flowing around against a slightly shorter person with leather and chainmail armour, a steel helmet with thin steel plating around the sides and top, bright blue energy flowed around this person as he or she held a black sword in one hand and a blue coloured one-handed battleaxe in the other. The second painting had a large, snowy clad mountain with a battle raging at the base, the combatants appeared more ghostly and daemonic than those in the first painting; two figures – one with bone, steel and chainmail armour and the other with leather and chainmail armour – fought each other, dark blue, bright blue and red energy flowed around them as cracks in the mountain were shown, the sky was red and orange as fireballs fell from the sky – the sky was raining fire.

Histoire glanced around towards Neptune, only to see the Planeptunian Goddess complely immersed by the partially faded paintings, and Histoire could not blame her for that, for she too was in awe of the paintings that had remained untouched by time. Neptune walked up to the paintings and reached out towards the first painting when she suddenly drew back for what seemed like no reason, but to the CPU of Planeptune she felt something odd about it all and drew back to calm her nerves. Histoire, concerned as ever, floated over to Neptune and patted her left shoulder. "Are you alright, Neptune? Is something the matter?" she asked her.

The CPU of Planeptune looked back at her Oracle with a smile."I'm fine, Histy, just a bit jumpy I guess."

Just then Nepgear walked over to them with a box full of the electronics and other computer-like parts that were tucked away in a corner of the vault; she appeared to be rather impressed and overly happy. "Does anyone know the time? I have to make dinner real soon but I don't know what time it is."

"It's about half past six, probably nearing seven by now," Angel replied without glancing in Nepgear's direction. The young man was holding a two-handed sword in his hands, the blade appeared to be slightly weathered but in good shape and looked as if it was made of steel, yet it appeared as if the steel was mixed with some other ore that made it even more dealy; it also seemed as if the sword was enchanted with some sort of magic that would aid in the art of killing. Evidently Angel was impressed with the two-handed sword.

"Well, since it's about dinner time I think we should halt the exploration of this vault until tomorrow when we can properly catalogue everything in here," Histoire informed the group. "Come on, let's head back out and reseal the vault until tomorrow, then we can search through this place thoroughly."

The group appeared to unanimous with the suggestion since most of them were tired and thought that a fresh start would be better suited for them, so they left the vault with what they wanted to take with them, for Nepgear it was all the electronics she could carry in a single box and for Angel it was the enchanted Ancient two-handed sword – at least he thought it was made by the Ancients anyway. As they left the vault and entered the storage room, waiting for Neptune and Histoire to reseal the vault the Planpetunian CPU noticed something odd in the corner of her eyes, it appeared to be small and squarish, perhaps rectangular in shape, it also had a white and orange colour scheme to it, then there was a symbol for a button. The marking on the button was an orange swirl.

 _Hmm, I just might have to check that out later, for plot development of course._ Neptune thought as she channelled her Share Energy back into the seal, closing door shut once more.

* * *

 **A/N: The plot thickens once again, and none to soon. Like how I expanded the backstory surrounding Uranus? It's small I know, but it's definitely a start I believe. Things may get interesting from here, so wait and see what I have in-store for you readers with the upcoming chapters to Age of War. Also, I have finally devised a system on how I will update my stories. Usually I would just start or continue a chapter from one story or the other until I feel like I should go onto the other, but now I will force myself to start and complete one chapter for each story, then I will go onto the next story and complete that chapter and so forth – I should have implemented it a long time ago, but it never occurred to me then. Anyway, thatnk you all for reading this, if you have questions or suggestions feel free to inform me of such things and have a good day if you can.**


	5. The Call Across the Dimensions

**Chapter 5: The Call Across the Dimensions**

Boxes upon boxes continued to litter Histoire's office, making it difficult for people to walk through the large yet filled up room to get to and from the tome fairy's desk whenever they needed to give her reports, documents, more paperwork or more boxes filled with items that were found in the lower levels of the Basilicom. The blonde fairy of Planeptune was signing away paperwork that happened to be rather important; it involved the financial and military state that Planeptune was finding itself in for some peculiar reason, it was something that Histoire just could not answer. It was not just Plnapetune that was starting to suffer from a lack of finances and unresponsive soldiers, Lastation and Leanbox were suffering from these plaguing problems, even Lowee was starting to suffer from financial problems while their military, small as it was, was nothing compared to the troubles surrounding the Loweean Guild and the mysterious Guild Master that now ruled it.

With all of these problems plaguing Histoire she thought that by diverting some of her efforts in calming herself down by going through all the findings that had been pulled out of the old vault that was located underneath the Basilicom; the tome fairy was hoping that by diverting her time to searching through the findings she would hopefully get a clear mind and prospective about the problems at hand. However, that was not to be the case for the Oracle of Planeptune. Histoire, as soon as she finished signing some financial documents that concerned the funding that was directed towards the army, sighed and gave up with the paperwork around her to go and search through the vault's findings, although she was to later regret all the work that involved around it. The tome fairy opened a cardboard box to reveal dozens upon dozens of old tomes, all of which were covered in dust that had been there for goddess knows how long.

Histoire sighed as she began to pull out the old tomes one at a time, doing her best to avoid getting the dust up her nose, although that was proven to be a failure. The blonde fairy coughed heavily as dust and dirt from the old tomes flew into the air and filled up the Oracle's nostrils and throat, it did not take long for Histoire to enter a coughing fit once all of the old tomes were laying across her desk. "These tomes… damn the dust. It will go away soon, the window is open so I can just hold on until the air becomes better," Histoire mumbled to herself as she looked over at the nearby open window, glad that she had the foresight to open it beforehand.

Many of the old tomes had lost their colour, leaving only leather covers with papers bounded together, although for a few only barely. Some of the more preserved tomes had several different bright and dark colours that ranged from dark grey, yellow, red, dark purple and orange; it also appeared to Histoire's eyes that the tomes with the different colours on them also had different symbols in the centre of the front covers. The dark grey tomes had the symbol of a raised, black lined palm of a hand with a grey fire in the middle; the yellow tomes had a yellow phoenix in the centre of the covers, the red tomes had three, dark blue lined circles that intertwined together; the dark purple tomes had a strange symbol upon the front covers, the symbol appeared to be a small straight line on the top with a curved left line and a curved right line, both leaned inwards and the right ling almost overlapped the left, a small circle was in the middle; the orange coloured tomes appeared to have some sort of tree-like symbol in the centre of every orange tome, the left half appeared bland while the right half appeared more blackened and twisted yet magical, just like all the other symbols.

All of this deeply interested the Planeptunian Oracle as she peered through the tomes, her mind was now fully engrossed in what she was reading, or at least attempting to read anyway. A few of the tomes were completely unreadable due to severe burning, but those that were readable were also unreadable due to the language that was used. Historie, despite being utterly absorbed in the text, was unable to read it, it was just an alien language to her, which was only half right. The tome fairy scratched her head in confusion as she did her best to understand what she was reading, but nothing made any sense to her. Then a thought occurred to her. "Maybe, just maybe this is the language of the Ancients. Yes, it does look like the Ancient texts I saw a long time ago. Maybe Uranus' journal has some sort of translation in it, she and Bellona would always talk to each other about translating the Ancient Tongue, a pity they never got far before they," Histoire said to herself as she reached for Uranus' journal and began to look through it, searching for any possible translation.

It proved harder than the Oracle of Planeptune had originally anticipated to find any sort of translation, she had anticipated to have some trouble but hoped that the former Goddess of Planeptune would have had something after all of the investigations she had done concerning the old and 'extinct' race. It took a long time but she eventually found something, although it was not much at all, it did however manage to help the Oracle translate a few of the words. "Hmm, interesting, these seem to be magical tomes that explain spells of all sorts; I think this page might be explaining the properties of Earth Magic, at least I think so anyway," Histoire mumbled to herself, curious about the texts. "Interesting, Ancients definitely wrote these tomes, and despite not being able to read most of these I am finding these texts to be utterly fascinating. I never knew that they were like this with magic. I wonder if Brian knew about this?"

As soon as she said the name 'Brian' the Oracle became disheartened and sad, the good memories of that young Ancient were overshadowed by the bad memories, by what he had done, by what he had committed. She quickly shook her head as her opinion about the young man remained less that good. _No, now is not the time to think about that… that man. I do not know where he may be at this time, but hopefully something can be done about his situation, and hopefully the populace refrain from starting a panic if word got round to everyone in Gamindustri about the news._ Histoire thought to herself as she laid the old tome down on the desk once more.

Histoire managed to translate many of the old tomes that concerned magic, but only several words though, she could not translate the entire text much less even entire paragraphs. After some time Histoire stopped reading through the old magical tomes and began to look through the other books, soon recognising that these were not magical tomes but instead books about history as far as Histoire could tell, although it was hard to tell due to how little she could translate. However thanks to Uranus' and Bellona's notes the Oracle of Planeptune was able to translate bits and pieces from the old books, she even managed to translate a few titles, the one that stood out the most was a title called _'_ _Tales of the Shadow Walkers'_ , but this only stood out because it was the only old book that happened to be written in the Common Tongue. As soon as Histoire read the title her brain told her not to read it, for it reminded her too much about Brian, but she soon disregarded that thought and began to read it, surprised that the text was readable and in the Common Tongue.

The old book was utterly fascinating to Histoire, although some of the texts were unreadable due to weathering and what looked like even burn marks or dried blood, but aside from that it had the tome fairy completely engrossed in it. "This is just… well, I don't know how to describe it," Histoire mumbled in an almost quiet tone. "The legends surrounding the rebirth of every Shadow Walker after death, their powers, their victories, their defeats, and their curses. From Bleddyn the First Ancient, to Rhisiart the Renowned, to Delyth the Betrayer, to Ivor the Enraged, to Mererid the Nightkin, to Tarahearn the Scourge and to the prophesied last Ancient and Shadow Walker, all of these people were Shadow Walkers and members of the Royal Bloodline. Huh? Royal Bloodline? What is that? I have no knowledge about that, nor does this old tome contain it. Also, it seems that the Ancients do refer the Shadow Walkers as 'Death Bringers' and Harbingers of Doom', just as I told Brian and Blanc all that time ago. Still, this is interesting."

"What's interesting?" someone asked the Oracle in a kind and curious tone, surprising the tome fairy of Planeptune.

After the initial shock Histoire calmed down and looked up to see Nepgear standing near her with a cardboard box in her arms, the box was filled with many more items that were found in the vault earlier that day, although the process of carefully bringing it up to Histoire's office was tiring for the CPU Candidate and all those who pitched in to help. The Oracle sighed and smiled at the Candidate. "Oh nothing much, Nepgear. I was just taking my mind off all of these reports, documents and paperwork by going through some of the findings. This old book was the only one I could find that was in the Common Tongue."

This piqued Nepgear's interests as she leaned over to look at the old tome in Histoire's small hands. "Really? What is it about?"

"The history of the Shadow Walkers. It is interesting to read, unfortunately not everything is readable due to severe weathering, burns and what may be dried blood on several pages, I think the book may have been stabbed at some point in the past as well. Anyway, how goes the clearance of the vault?"

Nepgear placed the cardboard box onto the ground near the desk and sighed with relief as she stood back up. "There's still a bit more to go, but Neptune and Angel said they would handle it, I think even Plutia might be there now as well," the Candidate informed the Oracle, relaying the latest news to her concerning the vault.

This did not bode well for Histoire though. She sighed and shook her head, guessing what was going on down there with those two. "I am sure that those three are barely working, in fact I am wiling to bet that they are not even doing anything productive other than playing around and messing things up down there. I can handle things up here, you better get back down there to supervise those three and make sure they do not mess up whatever is left down there. Nothing must be broken, understand?"

The Planeptunian Candidate nodded and began to walk back out towards the hallway to make her way to the elevator and return to the underground vault, as the lilac haired Candidate strolled out of the office she did her best not to bump into anything important, or anything in general for that matter. Before Nepgear disappeared into the hallway to return to the underground vault she looked back at Histoire and smiled at her, waving a 'goodbye' before leaving for the elevator, leaving Histoire alone with an office filled with work related folders, paperwork, old documents from Uranus' reign, thousand of years old books concerning magic and history as well as dozen of cardboard boxes. The Oracle fairy of Planeptune sighed as she returned to the work at hand, hoping that Nepgear would keep the others in check. However, little did Histoire know that that was the last time she would Nepgear, Neptune, Plutia, Angel and even Peashy for quite some time.

* * *

Neptune was on her knees, searching through one of the old and rusted boxes that remained left over from the clean out that had been occurring all throughout the day; what the Goddess of Planeptune was looking for was no one knew nor did they really want to know, considering that it was Neptune and it possibly involved her antics. She was humming cheerfully to herself, moving her body to the beat of the music and the notes, it sounded as if she was humming the tune to 'Dimension Tripper'. It was catchy, and infectious as Plutia and Peashy began to mimic the Planeptunian CPU, movement and all. Angel, who was standing nearby and was searching through one of the few containers that were left over, looked over at the young-looking women – and girl – and shook his head.

"Come on, just focus and get the rest of this stuff up to the fairy, or else we'll have less time to play games, and less time for me to drink large amounts of coffee and eat loads of blueberry muffins," Angel informed the three of them as he tossed what may have been the charred remains of a sword into a cardboard box, accidentally breaking the charred blade into two pieces. The young man looked at the mess he made and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, ain't like anyone is going to miss it."

Plutia, who had gotten distracted by Angel, looked over at her lover and noticed what he was talking about. She shook her as she walked up to him, her gaze directed towards his eyes. "Angie, that was a piece of history, there was no need to break it even if it was accidental. What would Histy say if she saw it like this?"

Angel shrugged. "Who knows, and who cares? She said for us to get everything out of here for cataloguing, she didn't say anything else about keep the integrity of the objects in this vault. Besides, most of what is and what was down here looked as if they were going to fall apart, in fact I think the only reason they never perished in the end was because of the magic that is around here, at least I think it might be that. Could be anything if that isn't the case, though I'm sure it has something to do with the Ancients, as always."

Plutia chuckled at how thoughtful Angel appeared to be as he rubbed his chin and glanced at the container before him. "You're so smart, Angie," Plutia said, chuckling soon afterwards as she leaned forwards, staring up at him from a lower position.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?" Angel asked, unsure whether it was either of them or even both due to Plutia's tone of voice.

The CPU of the Ultra Planeptune giggled and pressed herself up against the young man's left side. "Maybe, yet again maybe not, that's up for you to decide. Heh, I like it how you only keep small thoughts on certain things." That was when the sadistic CPU grinned mischievously at Angel; it was unlike her to grin like that while in human form but her time with the sadistic wolf god had opened her facial features and thoughts to a whole new level. "Besides, you thinking small isn't the only thing that's small about you."

Angel stared at his lover with a surprised look, not expecting the petite CPU to insult him like that. The corners of his mouth lit up deviously as sharpened teeth, which were inhuman and unnatural, began to show. "You cheeky dick waffle!" Angel exclaimed cheekily as he wrapped an arm around Plutia, bringing her in close to him, she then wrapped both of her arms around the young god's waist and snuggled against his chest affectionately. Angel patted her head gently and would have gone further if he and Plutia had not been interrupted by Neptune who happened to be looking over at them.

"Huh? What're you two blabbing on about over there?" Neptune asked, mildly confused with all that was being said between Angel and Plutia. Not long afterwards the CPU of Planeptune grinned mischievously and giggled away. "Oooooh, you two are being all lovey-doevy, hehehehe. You better keep it to yourselves or else P-ko is going to get ideas, and Plutie would definitely not want that."

Angel grunted in Neptune's directed and gave her a cheeky look mixed together with a glare. "Have no fear, Neptune, that girl won't be getting any funny ideas from us. Also, shouldn't you be doing some actual work? I remember quite clearly that Histoire originally wanted you to clear out this vault with only Nepgear to help you, I'm tempted to have only you deal with the rest of this junk."

"No! Don't leave me here to rot here with all this work! I beg you!" Neptune pleaded dramatically as she bowed before Angel and Plutia, although it was more of an act than anything. Angel and Plutia knew it, but that did not stop the CPU of Ultra Planeptune from giggling and the wolf god from raising an eyebrow with a surprised yet amused look on his face.

Angel did not really care if Neptune was just playing around though, whether it was dramatic acting or just laying around doing nothing, it mattered not to him. Eventually the young man shrugged his shoulders and relaxed himself a little. "Well, I don't really care what you do. I'm not Histoire so I'm not going to force you to do anything, although if you do happen to annoy me I will force-feed you eggplants, just like the story you told me when IF was forced to deep-throat and eat eggplants thanks to that Arfoire woman. Understood?"

Neptune, remembering what IF went through with Arfoire, nodded vigorously, her fear and hatred of eggplants resurfaced for all to see, much to Peashy's amusement. The child goddess laughed aloud and pointed a finger at the Planeptunian CPU's face, rolling around on top of the dirty ground as she enthusiastically laughed at her friend. "Hahaha! You look funny, Neptuna!" Peashy exclaimed amidst her laughter, barely able to control herself. "You're too funny!"

The purple goddess grinned brightly before leaping towards Peashy, tackling the child goddess before beginning to tickle her relentlessly. As the two flailed around, tickling each other in a duel to see who lasted longer, Plutia returned her gaze towards Angel once more as her smile broadened, then much to Angel's discomfort the small, sadistic goddess pushed him to the ground and began to tickle him without pity or remorse, in fact it could be said that she was enjoying herself a little bit too much. After a short while both Neptune and Peashy were still at it with their tickling competition with neither side still giving up, meanwhile Plutia's sadistic personality within her human form was becoming unleashed, this was evident by the unnatural sadistic aura that flowed from her as well as the massive grin on her face as she sat on top of the young man, tickling the sides of his body relentlessly without mercy. Angel replied in kind as he too began to tickle Plutia, only a little more forcefully than what everyone else was doing. However this did not last long afterwards as all four were interrupted by someone entering the vault, it was Nepgear and she seemed mildly surprised at what she was witnessing.

"Um, are you four alright?" the Candidate eventually asked, unsure as to if she wanted to know the answer or not.

Neptune nodded as she looked up at her younger sister. "Yep, we're all good down here," the purple goddess replied as she got off Peashy and sat on the ground next to the yellow goddess. "We were just having a break is all, nothing to worry your pretty little head about."

"Well, alright then, if you say so," Nepgear said, believing in what her older sister told her. It was not the first time something like this had happened, and it certainly would not be the last, only because Nepgear was susceptible to any excuse Neptune gave her. Before the Candidate could get to the point about her visit she noticed the position that Angel and Plutia had found themselves into just before she had entered the vault. "A-Angel? P-Plutia? Wh-Why are you in hat position?"

Angel was on top of Plutia and happened to be on all fours with the petite goddess underneath him, their faces were close together and Plutia's arms were wrapped around his upper body where she had been previously tickling him. To them it was nothing, but to Nepgear it looked like something else was just about to before she walked into the near empty vault. The sadistic god glanced at Nepgear sternly before he answered, adding fuel to the fire. "It's exactly what you think it is. We were just going to teach a few things before you came in," Angel replied deviously and untruthfully.

Nepgear blushed brightly and stuttered for a short moment, resulting in Neptune laughing at her loudly while Plutia had a small blush appear on her cheeks, Angel sat down next to his lover and was close to grinning while Peashy just looked at the group with a confused look in her expression. Eventually Angel shook his head and chuckled as he stood up, his gaze still fixed directly at the CPU Candidate of Planeptune. "No, no it isn't what it looks like, we were merely playing around and tickling. Kind of childish really," Angel added truthfully, calming down Nepgear after she processed the words through her mind, sighing at her own judgement.

Not long afterwards the Planeptunian Candidate, who had now recovered from the shock, got to the point about why she had returned. "A-Anyway, I'm only back because Histoire wants me to keep an eye on you all since she thought you would be playing around and not be doing any work. Guess she was right after all," Nepgear informed the four of them. "Histoire wants the rest of the objects in this vault to be brought up to her office for cataloguing."

Neptune did not seem to be too impressed with that though, which was made evident enough by her slouching posture and grumpy expression. "Oh come on, Nep Jr, I don't wanna do any more work today, or ever for that matter. Do we have to go on for the day?"

After Nepgear nodded a 'yes', much to Neptune's distress, Plutia looked over at the Planeptunian CPU and appeared a little confused with her statement. "But weren't you looking for something all the time we were in here?" she asked the purple goddess.

The patron Planeptunian CPU snapped her fingers and smiled brightly at Plutia. "You're a genius, Plutie, thanks for making me remember about that. Yeah, I'm here to find something that I saw yesterday when we closed the vault for the night, it looked like some sort of different version of the consoles we have upstairs, and I don't know why but I felt as if it was… calling to me throughout my sleep. If that makes any sense at all."

"What did it look like?" Angel asked, his curiosity piqued.

"It looked like the consoles we have in the living room, except it was orange and white with a swirl mark on the power button; it's vague but it was all that I could see last night." Neptune explained as best she could from memory. "I think it was over near the door but I couldn't find it earlier, that's why I was bending over all sorts of things so I could find this console. At least I think it's a console, could be anything knowing this place."

Nepgear appeared interested and had subsequently forgotten why she had returned to the vault in the first place. "So, it looks like one of our consoles… but why would something like that be down here? This vault is, or was I suppose, filled with Ancient-like items dating back to goodness knows where, in fact Histoire was translating Ancient tomes and was reading through a book about the history of the Shadow Walkers of old. Why would a console be down here?"

Angle, upon hearing about the Shadow Walkers, returned his gaze towards Nepgear's direction. "A book about the Shadow Walkers? You mean there was more than one?" the sadist asked the Candidate A firm nod was his reply. "I see, well that explains why that fairy isn't down here then. I wonder if Brian knew about it? Regardless, I'm interested in this supposed console that might be here in the vault. Let's find it."

The group nodded and began to search for the console, dispersing into smaller groups of one to two people to conduct their search more thoroughly and quickly. There was little left in the vault to search through for the mysterious console, in fact the only items left were a few old weapons, unreadable tomes in old containers, empty boxes and what appeared to be a few empty steel containers next to what a guard described as a 'hollow wall' at the back of the vault. Clearly there was not much to look through for the console, if it truly was a console though, not everyone truly believed that it was one. It did take a little bit of time to carefully search through what was left in the vault but in the end they found nothing, that was until they heard a distant, distressed and stern voice call out to them, it sounded as if it was muffled by something as if it was underneath something in the vault.

"Help… need assistance… Zero Dimension… help," the muffled voice called out, the words were distorted and jumbled together, creating an incoherent sentence that kept breaking up at certain points. "Daemons attacking… war… need assistance… Zero Dimension needs help…"

This caught the group off guard and made them stop in their tracks, their gazes were fixed upon each other, none of them knew where the voice was coming from nor what it was trying to tell them; it sounded as if it was a woman leaving a distress call. "Where the hell is that voice coming from?" Angel asked, his patience wearing thin.

"I think it came from over there," Plutia responded as she and Neptune walked over towards the vault door, there they found an overturned empty container, once the two CPUs pulled it away they found the console had been moved and accidentally buried underneath the container, buried into the broken ground beneath. Plutia glanced over at Neptune, who was looking at the talking console."I think that may be it. Is that it, Neppy?"

The Planeptunian CPU nodded. "Yeah, that's it alright, I remember that swirly thing from anywhere," Neptune replied, nodding as she did so.

The console then spoke again. "Help… need help… Dimension falling apart… war has come…" Soon afterwards it then went silent, leaving an ominous silence behind as the voice went away for a second and final time.

Angel, with many questions racing through his mind, looked at Plutia and Neptune, who were standing over the orange and white console and looked down at it with wonder. "So, what are we going to do with it? Sounds like some sort of distress signal or something, could just be on a loop and has been going on and off for the last few thousand years or so. Still, what the hell is a Zero Dimension? Some sort of place like this dimension? Or maybe it's a codename for something? We should take it to Histoire and see what she thinks about it."

Neptune and Plutia, however, had different ideas flowing through their mind. They both looked at each other and smiled, thinking the same thing as the other. They then snatched up the console and left the vault in a hurried walk, making their way back to the ground level of the Basilicom, leaving behind Angel, Nepgear and Peashy by themselves. Angel guessed, correctly, what Plutia and Neptune were up to. Eventually he, Nepgear and Peashy looked at each other for a short moment before they all swiftly followed Plutia and Neptune back into the Basilicom proper, hoping to catch up with the two Planeptunian Goddesses before they did something stupid with the console.

It took some time to track them down but with Angel's guidance, alongside with Peashy who was clinging onto his head whilst sitting behind his neck, the group eventually emerged into the living room where they found both Neptune and Plutia sitting on the ground around the console, fiddling with it. From what Angel and Nepgear could see it appeared as if they were trying to get it working as if it was just another way to play their games. Angel, as soon as he neared them and got Peashy off him, looked down at the small goddesses before him on the ground, a questioning look was in his expression. "I take it you're going to make it work just like one of your consoles over by the TV?" Angel asked, already guessing what the answer would be.

Neptune and Plutia nodded, making Angel's assumptions right. "I see. Well then, have you even considered what that message was about? Have you even given any thought towards that?" he asked, his arms now crossed over his chest.

"Of course we have, Angie," Plutia replied with a bright smile. "We thought that if we could turn this thing on we might be able to what's going on in it."

Angel appeared to agree with the idea from what everyone could see; he nodded his head in agreement before kneeling down next to Plutia. "Alright then, I'm intrigued to know what this 'console' might have. Does any of the cords we have fit into it?"

"Maybe, but I don't really know," Nepgear responded as she knelt onto both knees in front of the very, very old console. "Although, guessing from what we heard down in the vault I'm guessing that this thing is self-sufficient, meaning we may not need to plug it into anything."

"Oh! So if I just press the power button it should just turn on," Neptune said as she reached out for the button with the swirl mark on it. As soon as the purple goddess had pressed the button everyone took a step back and… nothing happened. Everyone glanced at each other for a moment, unsure about what to do next; Nepgear appeared tp be rather embarrassed that her suggestion did not work at all.

However, just as Neptune went to press the power button on the console once more an ominous humming sound broke out, followed by the sound of magical energy building up around the console, causing the group to look at with with confused and highly concerned expressions. Then came something they never expected: a wormhole; grey and swirly. As the noise began to louden while objects around the living room were forced around the place Angel stared at the wormhole with wonder, he knew what was going on. "Dimension magic," he muttered. "But I thought only people such as Wraith knew how to do that. How the blood-stained sadistic hell can a game console be able to conjure up such magic in the first place?!"

No one was able to answer him properly for they were, along with the young sadistic man, were being sucked into the vortex that travelled between dimensions. In barely a minute everyone – Neptune, Nepgear, Plutia, Angel and Peashy – were all sucked into the portal; Neptune and Nepgear entered first and were sped along on their path while Plutia and Peashy were hanging onto either side of Angel, who happened to be rather calm about the prospect of being forced into a dimensional portal for the second time in his life. After they were sucked in one end of the portal closed while the other end opened at their destination, wherever that was. As they passed through the portal the group saw the stars of planets and other dimensions, all glittered brightly, some more brighter than others. The wonders of dimension magic and the view of space filled their minds with wonder, it was something they were never going to forget. This process of travelling only lasted a few minutes before the group smashed through into the boundary of another dimension and found themselves falling through the sky, only there was a slight problem: they were beginning to split off into different groups. Neptune and Nepgear, unable to do anything about their fall from the sky, accepted their fate and crashed into the ground of the new dimension.

As the dust settled over the two Planeptunian CPUs Neptune groaned and began to get up, opening her eyes to see her surroundings, but once she did the goddess wished she had not opened her eyes at all. Everything around her was either destroyed or begging to be destroyed, the very air tasted of destruction, dust and death, the sky was a mix colour between orange, dark blue and dark purple, instead of clouds there were only large cracks that splintered the very sky apart. All of the buildings around Neptune and Nepgear were in a crumbling ruin, craters and fissures littered the area and the very ground itself seemed to be torn asunder. One other note of interest that the Nep sisters found utterly curious was lack of any sort of sound. No birds, no wind, no cars or motorbikes, no footsteps and no bantering. The city was void of life.

Nepgear stood up and fidgeted her fingers, nervous about her new surroundings. "Um, Neptune, where are we? This doesn't like like any sort of place in Gamindustri."

Neptune shrugged. "Meh, I don't know. Maybe we're in the future or something, this place kinda does look like Planeptune after all. Well in any case this place is in need of an adventure, and we're gonna be the adventurers who will brave this hardy land! Let's go, Nep Jr!"

"B-But what about Angel, Plutia and Peashy? Shouldn't we go looking for them first before we adventure around this desolate place? In fact I think I don't want to adventure around here, it's kind of scary to be honest."

"Yeah, it kinda is, but we have to find the others. So then, uh, which way is north? I can't tell. There isn't a sun around to do that. Why doesn't this place have a sun or a proper sky?" Neptune lamented as she looked upwards in her attempt to figure out directions, but to no avail. "Meh, whatever. Let's just head this way, maybe we'll find Plutie and the others, and maybe even the locals if there are any about."

"R-Right," Nepgear said as she followed Neptune in what happened to be a northerly path, thought neither sister knew that due to a lack of direction in the wasteland that they found themselves in.

And a wasteland is truly was. Neptune and Nepgear were walking on what remained of a broken and torn apart highway amidst the ruined buildings of clothes stores, a mall, apartments, houses and what even appeared to have been a store filled with the remains of old computers and other electronics. Neptune had a hard time attempting to get her younger sister away from the store and continue on with the adventure to locate Angel, Plutia, Peashy, any locals and their purpose in this new, strange environment that they found themselves in. However, even though it was just a desolate and ruined wasteland both Neptune and Nepgear did feel a sense of adventure, as if they were the only people around, as if it was them against the world, as if nothing could stop them. After wandering around aimlessly for about half an hour, searching through ruined buildings and venturing about in their search for their missing friends, they turned down another ruined street the two CPUs of Planeptune came across large craters the size of a truck, large swathes of rubble littered the place and buildings that were already in ruins beforehand were in a complete mess, in fact there was hardly anything left in the general area.

"Whoa. Looked like something big went through here," Neptune said as she approached the rubble, not caring about the fact that whatever caused the damage could still be around somewhere nearby.

As the CPU Candidate walked over to her older sister she stopped in her tracks and lokoed odwn at her feet, there she saw the remains of green and red blood, further away towards her left she saw what looked like a crossbow bolt or two, both were broken beyond repair. "Um, Neptune, have you seen this blood down here and the crossbow bolts over there?" she asked, pointing her finger at each of them repeatedly.

"Huh? Whadda mean?" Neptune asked as she walked back towards the Candidate, that was when she noticed what Nepgear was talking about. "Oh my, well, that's highly unusual. Is it a signal? A sign perhaps? Oh! It's a summons! The locals are trying to communicate with us!"

"Or perhaps there was a fight here," Nepgear suggested accurately, ignoring what her sister was rambling on about. "From the looks of it I think it was about… well, I'm not sure but it does look like it has been here for a while, so maybe a few days or weeks at best."

"But why would there have been a fight in the first place?" Neptune asked as she knelt onto her knees and took a long look at the crossbow bolts, she picked them up and noticed how they glowed slightly with magical energy, of what kind the CPU of Planeptune did not yet know.

The CPU Candidate of Planeptune rubbed her chin and she thought of a reply. "Well, I think it might have something to do with what that console was relaying to us; something about daemons and war in the Zero Dimension. Um, hey, Neptune, you don't think we're in another dimension, do you?"

The purple goddess shrugged her shoulders. "Probably, that would explain a few things actually. Still, if this happened weeks ago then where is everyone?"

Neptune wished she had not said that, for as soon as she did a terrifying daemonic roar burst through the silence air, chilling the blood of the CPUs. The hairs on the back of their neck stood on end, their eyes were wide with fright and their muscle involuntarily twitched with fear; whoever or whatever roared was nearby, and there was a fair chance that whatever was out there knew they were around. Neptune, unwilling to know who or what was out there looked over at her younger sister, sweating with fright. "Um, I think it's high time we got going. Don't you agree?" she suggested, jabbing her thumb behind her.

"G-G-Good idea, lets go!" Nepgear said enthusiastically.

But before either of them could get away the sound of daemonic roaring returned in full force, this time it was closer than ever. Not long afterwards the two Nep sisters turned around and looked down the street to see something out of a horror game approaching them. It was a daemon, that much was obvious, but it was its looks that made them more than worried for their own well-being. The daemon had red scaly skin with black blotches, glowing yellow eyes, sharp fangs for teeth that were covered in saliva, the top of its head stretched out and was longer than the two black spiked horns on either side of its head, it hunched forward with long legs and arms, a bronze longsword covered in dried blood was held in its hands. As soon as the deadly creature gazed at the Nep sisters it bellowed loudly, resulting on five more of its kind to appear from behind it. Then they charged at Neptune and Nepgear, all six daemons had a bloodthirsty look in their eyes and roared loudly in a ferocious war cry.

"Time to transform and fight!" Neptune exclaimed as she stood her ground alongside Nepgear, the two of them summoning their weapons at the same time – Nepgear materialised her sabre beam sword while Neptune, curiously, materialised her wooden katana. Both nodded at each other and a flash of white light enveloped around them… yet nothing happened. The light died away to reveal both sisters in their human forms, both had shocked and concerned expressions as the two of them were utterly confused at what had just happened. "Hey, wait a moment, we're still in our human forms! This shouldn't be happening! Don't tell me the author is actually following the plot of one of the games for once?!"

Just as one the bloodthirsty daemons was about to make contact with Neptune, its sword raised above to land a killing blow, a crossbow bolt imbued with lighting magic collided into the daemon's thick skull, sending the deadly monster to the ground dead. The attack was halted by this as the other daemons looked towards their right where they saw the remains of a general goods store, on top of the ruined building there was a man wielding a small pump-action crossbow in his hands, both the crossbow and the bolts he was using were enchanted with all sort of destruction magic. The man had mixed black and brown hair, a bushy goatee of the same colour, a black eye patch over his left eye and a scar ran down his left cheek. He was wearing a steel chest plate with many battle scars, a chainmail vest with sleeves, a leather belt, steel plated armour around parts of his arms, legs and boots; a steel helmet with no visor that covered the flesh around the ear, back of the head, neck as well as the forehead was being worn by the one-eyed man, the helmet also had a plume of blue feathers running down from the top to the back, a blue tunic was also worn above the chainmail and underneath the armour, a sword was hanging by his belt and a small quiver of crossbow bolts was strapped to the right side of his belt. The armour did not cover his entire body, leaving many areas open for all to see the chainmail and the blue tunic that he wore.

"Get over here you bloodthirsty bastards!" the orange eyed man yelled loudly as he fired another bolt at a daemon close to Nepgear, killing instantly.

The surviving daemons were not too pleased about this turn of events, in fact they were utterly enraged by it as another one of their comrades was shot down. The survivors roared in their own tongue and charged at the building, ignoring the two CPUs as they made their way towards the newcomer. One of the daemons began to channel its black blood into the palm of their left hand for a few seconds before striking at the newcomer with daemonic blood magic, an offspring of the blood magic that humans once used. The black blood struck at the feet of the newcomer and expanded before exploding, resulting in one side of the store to collapse and send the armoured orange eyed man to the ground before the daemons. With a triumphant cry the remaining daemons charged forward at their target, only for them to be attacked by the CPUs of Planeptune; both Neptune and Nepgear had regained their confidence after the stranger arrived to help them.

"Take that! And that! And that!" Neptune exclaimed repeatedly as she smashed her wooden katana over one of the daemon's heads over and over again. Nepgear, meanwhile was clashing blade-to-blade with one of the surviving daemons, both were flexible and swift with their movements, each attempting to outflank the other and deliver a final blow. While Nepgear appeared to be handling herself well the same could not be said about Neptune, her choice of weapon was rather a bad idea if one was to engage in a duel to the death with a being of another dimension.

Fortunately for Neptune however she did not have to take down the daemon by herself. As the purple goddess was slowly beaten back by the foul creature the newcomer drew his sword and threw himself into the fray, slashing the daemon across the back before Neptune smacked her wooden katana over the monster's head once more, then the stranger yelled furiously in a war cry as he stabbed his steel blade into the daemon's throat before pulling it out and cutting off the head, black blood splattered all over the black as the final daemon fell to the ground dead. "That's the last of them," the orange eyed stranger said, sighing with relief as he pulled out a cloth from his armour and cleaned his blade. Once done he looked at the two goddesses and appeared confused. "Hold on, who the hell are you two? I had no idea there were any people around here. Are you locals?"

Nepgear shook her head. "No, in fact we just got here around half an hour ago. Some sort of portal opened and we were sucked in with a few of our friends; they're missing at the moment and we have no idea where they or we are."

"Is that so? Well now, that is interesting, very interesting. You two must have been two of the five comets that I spotted a while back, you must have come from another dimension if that's the case. Dimension magic you see, it's unpredictable. That is how I got here, along with a friend whom I have not seen for quite some time," the stranger explained as he retrieved whatever crossbow bolts he could find. "Anyway, just who are you two?"

"I'm Neptune and this here is my younger sister, Nepgear. We're the Goddesses of Planeptune, one of the four countries in the dimension from were we come from," Neptune replied enthusiastically, beaming a bright smile at the man.

However, much to the surprise of both Neptune and Nepgear the orange eyed man broke out in a smile and laughed. "Hahahaha! Seriously? Goddesses? The two of you? That's just… that's just crazy! Oh by the love of the gods this is just too hilarious to not laugh at."

Neptune's smile disappeared and was replaced by a scolding look. "Hey! We are goddesses, we can even transform you know!"

"Then do it, prove me wrong."

The Nep sisters looked at each other and chuckled with embarrassment. "Well, it's just that we can't at the moment. We don't seem to be connected to our Shares at the moment," Nepgear explained as best she could. "You have to believe us, sir."

"I'll believe it when I see it," the man responded. He did not believe that Neptune and Nepgear were goddesses, although he had his reason to not believe them. After all, who would believe that two cute and adorable girls were divine beings in the flesh? The man had been brought up to believe that the gods and goddesses were divine beings that could not walk among the earth alongside mortals and instead chose to stay in the heavens to guide people with an invisible hand, although that view had been challenged due to his interactions with a certain God of Time. However, even if the orange eyed thought that the young-looking women he encountered were possibly mad he knew that he had to be polite.

"So, what's your name?" Neptune asked, deciding to leave the conversation about their divinity for another time when they could find a way to transform.

"The name is Lucius. Lucius Amullius. General of the eighth Imperial Legion, Count of Corinthia and Warden of the Northern Marches. At least, I was them anyway," Lucius replied, thumping his chest plate with his right fist over his heart while he stood to attention. Not long afterwards a saddened and grim expression appeared all over his face as memories of the past flooded his mind.

All of this intrigued the CPUs of Planeptune, none more so than Neptune herself. "Oooh, so you're a fancy general are you, or at least were? Interesting, although you look a little young to be a general and a count of some land."

"And you look very young to be a 'goddess'," Lucius retorted in a harsh tone before apologising. "I'm sorry, I just got a little heated there. But yes you are correct, I am rather young to be a general and a count, although I am no longer either of them."

"Why's that? Something happened to your dimension or something?"

Lucius glanced away, his grip on the hilt of his sheathed sword tightened. "I'd… rather not talk about that right now, if you mind," he finally said, sighing sadly and almost quietly. After a couple of seconds of silence the former general looked back behind him down the road for a short moment before looking back at the two goddesses. "Well I have to go now. It has been… interesting to meet the two of you, to say the least."

As the orange, one-eyed man began to walk away Neptune called out to him loudly. "Hey! Mind if we tag along? Sounds like you've been here a while so you can show us around. Plus, you wouldn't leave to, defenceless, cute girls all by themselves, would you?"

While Lucius appeared to be thinking about it Nepgear blushed with embarrassment at what her older sister had said. Eventually the one-eyed man's face broke out into a small smile and he chuckled. "Alright then, you can accompany me until you feel the need to depart. It'll be nice to have some form of human interaction, plus I do have many questions that I have for the two of you." He then looked away with a slightly embarrassed expression. "Also, you are kind of cute."

Neptune grinned brightly as she skipped over towards Lucius with Nepgear in tow. "Alrighty then, let's-a-go! Speaking of which, we are we going?" Neptune asked the man. As she asked him that question the purple goddess realised that Lucius was quite taller than her, in fact the former general was nearly around five foot eight.

"We are heading back to my camp, it's around the outskirts of this desolate city to the south-west, we should be safe there for the rest of the day," Lucius replied as the three of them made their way down the ruined road. "Once we get there you can make yourselves at home, just don't be annoying. There might be some food there as well so if you are feeling hungry you can have it, same goes for water. Once we are all rested from that skirmish earlier ask nay question you like and I'll do my best to answer them."

"Thanks a bunch, Lucius," Neptune thanked the orange eyed man as they strolled down the street, making their way for the south-west outskirts. As they did so Neptune's thoughts turned to her friends, both in the Hyperdimension and those who she and Nepgear were recently separated from. _I'm sure Angie, Plutie and P-ko and take care of themselves here, those three are tough enough to survive anything. I just hope that Histoire doesn't get worried about our location, she worries about things too much. Also, is Planeptune going to be fine without me and Nep Jr around? I sure hope so, things weren't looking so good before so who knows what might happen. I just hope nothing bad happens._

* * *

 **A/N: Took a bit longer than I thought, but it's finally here! Yes, it is time for a Zero Dimension story arc, and yes it is quite, quite different from what was seen in Megadimension Neptunia VII; there will be severe changes with it but have no fear. It also seems that Lucius Amullius survived his encounter against the giant monster from the previous novel, lucky for the Planeptunian CPUs eh? Also,if anyone can guess where the red scaly daemons from then you're just fantastic! For those who don't know then I will give you all a hint: Blood for the Blood God! So, what will happen next with our band of unwilling dimension jumpers? What will happen to Planeptune without its CPUs? What fate shall before them all? Find out next time folks. Until then, leave a suggestion if you have any, questions are welcome as well as requests and as always have a good day if you can.  
**


	6. Flight from the Land of Green Pastures

**Chapter 6: Flight from the Land of Green Pastures**

Fire crackled about, lighting up the dark area around the two figures who sat on logs and rocks around the camp-fire, their gazes directed towards the flickering flames. The figure with the longer hair of the two had her hands near the fire in an attempt to keep them warm while she could still be awake, her companion on the other hand was as still as a rock, even his breathing appeared to be still; anyone who could have been nearby, which there were none, would have mistaken the man as a human-like statue. Even the woman was worried about her travel companion, as evidenced in her concerned expression. The woman wearing the witch hat bent forward towards her right and waved a hand in front of the young man's face, hoping to gain a reaction of some sort to ensure that he had not died. Suddenly the man burst to life as he grabbed the woman's wrist and squeezed it tightly.

"Attempt to touch me again, and I'll cut your hand off," he threatened the woman before releasing her wrist.

"I wasn't going to touch you, for your information. I was merely making sure that you were still alive, you appeared to be as dead as a can of spam from where I'm sitting," the woman replied, rubbing her wrist to soothe the pain away.

The young man's eyes flared bright blue for a short moment, his inner anger appeared on his face as his teeth clenched tightly, within a few seconds the rage in his expression disappeared in a flash to reveal his saddened, grieved and pained expression. He glanced away from his companion and sighed deeply, the right side of his face was darkened and appeared to be more savage in its expression while the left side of his face was lightened up by the flickering light of the fire to reveal the grieved and sad look. One face, two expressions. The woman with the witch hat and the tall staff found it utterly strange that her travelling companion was able to achieve something like that, although she guessed that it was not by normal means, especially since there was nothing normal about Brian in the slightest.

"I-I'm sorry about that, MAGES." Brian apologised, his gaze directed towards the shrubbery around him to his right. He rubbed a hand through the thick strands of hair on his head that reached down to his jaw and back neck – the young man had let his hair grow without stop, the short cut was now gone, but the cowlick at the front of his head remained. "I'm just… sorry."

The Mad Magician did not appear to be angry with him, instead she gave the young Ancient a small smile as she handed him a steaming bowl of beef stew, fresh from the cooking pot that was hoisted over the fire. "Here, you need the energy. You seem to like beef stew so I thought you would like it if I gave you some, there isn't much but at least it is something."

Brian took the bowl of beef stew as well as the spoon that MAGES had held out for him to grab, the young man then proceeded to dig into the hot meal he was given with utter ferocity, it was as if he had not eaten a single bit of food for days, nor had he appeared to have slept for days as well. Dark patches were visible underneath his eyes, his face appeared to be more worn out rather than healthy, he hardly blinked and would stare at anything for minutes on end. Something was not right with him, whether it was from all the stress that had been building up lately or because of the failure of his past goal in riding the world of the Dark Lord's shade MAGES could not tell, suffice to say that it was causing the young man sleepless nights and less time to eat. Despite the voice of reason in her mind telling the Mad Magician that it was not a wise idea to ask Brian the Shadow Walker, last of the Ancients, what was troubling him, but her curiosity got the better of her. As MAGES had once said: 'Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it did learn many valuable things before its death'.

"So, Brian, how are you feeling? Apart from feeling sleepy and hungry of course," MAGES asked the young man as she brushed the loose bangs away from her eyes. "I apologise for being curious, but I cannot help but wonder what is flowing through that mind of yours."

The Ancient sighed after swallowing some stewed beef, his gaze never meeting MAGES. "Well, it isn't much, I just have a lot on my mind right about now, especially with all that is happening. By the way, er, thanks for getting me out of that mess."

MAGES grinned at the young man. "It wasn't much, all I did was get you out of that mess with those Spartans. Those heavily equipped elite soldiers of the Leanbox army were tougher than I thought, far more deadly and brutal than a common soldier. Just where the hell did the Justiciar managed to find those people?"

"Huh? Justiciar? Who is this Justiciar person?" Brian asked, his gaze finally turning towards the Mad Magician of Gaminustri, his own curiosity piqued.

As MAGES opened a bottle of water and took a few sips before returning her attention to the Ancient Emperor, her expression grim. "Honestly, I don't really know. No one truly knows. As far as I am aware it seems that the Justiciar, as people within the Leanbox army and the Leanbox Guild call him, is a part of the Guild and from what the rumours indicate he maybe a senior member of the Guild Counsel, maybe even the unofficial leader. The Justiciar appeared around half a year ago, so I forgive you for not knowing since you tend to keep away from the major cities and towns. No one knows what he looks like, but people guess that he may be a daemon in human form."

Brian looked away back towards the fire, his expression was mixed between intrigue and concern. "So no one knows what he looks like? Interesting, and highly concerning. Just what is Vert and her general up to?"

"I am sure that Green Heart has no idea about the Justiciar, only her generals, the different sectors in the army and the Guild know about him." MAGES then drank some more of her bottled water before sealing the top on before retuning her own gaze in Brian's direction. "Do you think there is something going on, as if there is something or someone behind the scenes, pulling the strings?"

The Ancient shrugged as he finished off the beef stew. "Who knows? But it would make sense, seeing how the situation throughout Gamindustri is becoming more unsettling with the news you gave me back in Hero City. The bounties on me, the failing faith, the Dark Lord's shade still wandering about… the Dark Lord… the Dark Lord. By the divines of old, it's the Dark Lord! It has to be!"

MAGES raised an eyebrow at Brian's remark as she ate away at a small energy bar. "Is that so? Care to explain how you came to that conclusion?"

The young man cracked his neck and back as he readjusted himself on his log, his gaze directed fully at the Mad Magician's face. "It's quite simple. I told you about Agandur the Dark Lord, the one who was ultimately responsible for the Dark Captain Crisis last year, and the manhunt that I conducted for the last twelve months which has led to complete failure. I'm guessing that the Dark Lord is behind the fall of faith in the goddesses and my bounty, but even that is odd in itself. Why bother with getting some minions to place an overly excessive bounty on my head when he could just do something himself. He's up to something, but I have no clue as to what it is."

"All the more reason to get to Lowee as fast as possible to you can make sure White Heart and the White Sisters are alright, isn't that correct, Brian?" MAGES concluded correctly. The nervous nod from the young man proved her right. "I thought so. Just remember that the CPU of Lowee has been around for over two hundred years and has been taught how to survive under the most harshest circumstances. I don't exactly know when you were born or where you were raised and how, just know that the CPUs have more experience with these types of situations, although only in practice mind you. As far as history goes this type of situation has never been encountered before since the Interregnum, or even before that. Times are changing, and not for the best. It just isn't Lowee that is in danger from whatever is lurking out there in the shadows, it is also Planeptune, Lastation and Leanbox that are under threat from what's out there. We need to be on our guard when we leave Leanbox, I'm sure that the dangers that follow us and surround the goddesses will be all over the place on the mainland."

"Speaking of our journey to the mainland, how will that be accomplished?" the Ancient Emperor question MAGES with a stern look in his eyes as he placed the empty bowl and used spoon on the ground next to his feet. "Those damn Spartans have been harassing us for the last two nights, and I'm getting very, very pissed off about it all. They patrol the western and northern coastlines leaving us little option but to head inland, but that only puts us in a collision course with the capital city of Leanbox as well as their main force. So that leaves us with three options: one, to head to the eastern coastline and find a way off from there; two, actually head inland and fight our way to the southern coastline; three, to fight our way off the northern coastline and make out way to Lastation. None of them seem promising. What's your opinion, MAGES?"

The Mad Magician rubbed her chin thoughtfully and stared grimly at the ground below her, she was lost in thought for several minutes, contemplating the choices that were laid out before her and Brian. Eventually she looked back at the young man, but her expression could not hide the look of uncertainty upon her face. "I don't know, Brian, I just don't know. I think it may be more prudent if we slept over the matter and discuss it later in the morning."

Brian nodded as MAGES stood up and began to walk over to a crudely made shelter which was made up of a few sheets tied up together with an overhanging tree acting as support and a roof, inside there were two makeshift bedrolls, tree roots protruded out of the grassy earth. Hardly a fitting place to sleep, but there was little choice for the two fugitives. "I'll see you in the morning, Brian. Goodnight," MAGES said to the young man.

The Ancient nodded. "Alright then, goodnight. I'll take first watch and wake you when I'm getting tired."

"If that ever happens." The Mad Magician then disappeared behind the sheets and made her way to her bedroll, hoping to sleep through the night for once.

The Shadow Walker stood around in the dark, as silent as a dead man and as still as a rock, his gaze ever moving all over the place in his sight. The young man was ever vigilant about what may or may not be lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike, but fortunately for him and MAGES the young man's sixth sense – the scent of danger – was not picking up anything that was threatening. The flickering fire soon caught Brian's attention however, he gazed at it sternly, and not in a good way either. The Ancient carefully took off the cooking utensils away from the fire and packed them away before retuning to the camp-fire, he then proceeded to stomp on the flames repeatedly without end, extinguishing the fire. But at a cost: as the young man stomped on the fire a part of his stitched up brown coat caught on fire, he did not notice until he could smell something burning, that was when the young man noticed the bottom of his coat burning.

"Fuck!" Brian yelled as he fell to the ground and began to roll around like a little child on a sugar rush. Soon enough the fire was put out, but black embers from the bottom of his coat remained, scorched from the fire that touched it previously. The young man sighed and shook his head, but aside from that he did not appear to be too bothered by it. "Well, it doesn't matter in the end. Clothing can be restored, but life cannot. That's something I failed to learn when… _that_ hapened."

Brian looked over at his backpack, which was leaning up against a tree alongside his two swords: the Armas Mecha Sword Mk 1 and the cursed sword Gehaburn. The short blade of the Mecha Sword was but a spare blade to Brian, his main weapon of choice was Gehaburn, although he did admit to himself that ever since he had touched the cursed blade things have gone downhill from there, everything that had occurred over the last year was evident enough to prove that fact – the Massacre of Haruno Village was the prime example, but there was another that Brian did not want to share with the rest of the world, it was something that was eating away at his psyche and turning him against himself. The young man continued to stare at Gehaburn, a rising anger began to build up within him as he heard the souls of all those who had been slain by the cursed sword whisper out to him, the last words of all those who were killed by the past wielders of Gehaburn were calling out to the young man in cold, ghostly voices, never ceasing to fill his mind with all sorts of words in all sorts of dead languages. The voices rarely stopped, they never wanted to. This was just one of the corrupting aspects of Gehaburn, but for many past wielders of the cursed blade it was enough to drive them over the edge of madness.

The Ancient Shadow Walker could feel it happening in his mind, the curse of Gehaburn influence was starting to settle on his psyche, it has been doing that ever since he first held the blade in Lowee. But unlike his predecessors, Brian would not fully yield to the corruption that Gehaburn was spreading, not since he spent the night in Lowee after the Massacre and when Blanc had to comfort him by hugging the young man through most of the day when they sat down to write their novel, but now the situation with the Ancient was starting to deteriorate. Blanc, the only person who could sooth Brian's emotions and make him see reason, was all the way in Lowee and far from the events unfolding in Leanbox, and she was the only one who could count as a remedy to the corruption that was flowing through Brian. It was beginning to impact heavily on his mind, especially with all that had been happening lately.

The young man did his best to shake away the voices of the dead out of his head, but to no avail. He then began to feel a rush of emotions including anger, rage, vengeance and complete and utter hatred; he felt a rush of power flow through him as soon as he touched Gehaburn, the voices then only became stronger. Brian grinned malevolently in a daemonic way as he held onto the hilt of Gehaburn, enjoying the rush of corrupt power that flowed through his body. _Yes… yes… this i_ _s_ true _power! The corruption that comes from this sword is beyond what Share Energy can do, this blade will lead me to victory on every battlefield!_ _With such power as this I can bend everything to my will, and who knows what I may be able to accomplish from there. Maybe a second Ancient Empire? Or maybe I shall finally have vengeance for the genocide of my race? The possibilities are endless!_ Brian thought to himself with pride as his expression became hardly human-like at all.

Not long afterwards the young man shook his head around vigorously and rubbed his forehead as if to soothe away some sort of hidden pain, he then proceeded to smack his head against a tree with utter ferocity, never groaning about the pain he was putting himself through. _Gods dammit, this isn't good, not good at all._ _I have to calm down, I have to calm down, I have to calm down…_ _come on, mind, please let me regain control over my emotions and thoughts, please._ Brian smashed his head against the tree one final time, Share Energy burst forth from the impact and the tree splintered. As Brian withdrew from the splintered tree he saw blood flow down his forehead and onto his nose, the blood then flowed down his face and droplets dripped to the ground. The young man wiped his forehead and felt the lightly ripped skin in the centre.

"Tch. Serves me right, thinking about accepting the full corruption of Gehaburn like that," Brian murmured to himself. As the Ancient cleaned up his small wound with some spare water and a small, clean cloth. "I hate my duel personality, I hate myself, I hate everything!"

"Do you really hate everything?" a sultry and seductive voice called out from behind the young man.

Brian turned around slowly and faced the newcomer, but as soon as he did the young man noticed how similar the newcomer appeared to someone he knew in Leanbox. The newcomer was a tall woman with dark green hair that flowed down to her upper back, the ends of her hair had spiked edges and a ponytail flowed down from the back of her head, her eyes her purple, her breasts were considerably large, she had a curvy womanly body and a small smile plastered on her face; her arms were crossed underneath her giant melons, to Brian's eyes it seemed as if they bounced up and down whenever she moved her arms. She was wearing a long green dress with golden accents and purple lining that ran down the sleeves, the dress did little to hide the womanly curves of her body. Long, thin gloves adorned her hands and lower arms, her footwear were high heels that had green leather straps that wrapped up all over her lower legs up to the knees.

The young man stood still in awe at the beauty that radiated from her, his first thought was that Vert had a giant makeover, but the blue glow around her and the occasional fading trick every now and then convinced him otherwise. This left the Ancient with only one other person he could think of. "Venus?" Brian asked with uncertainty.

The former Goddess of Leanbox chuckled lightly and smiled at the young man. "What gave it away?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Because you seem more ghostly, not to mention that you look a little different from Vert, your looks at least," Brian replied as he wiped his forehead clean again from all the blood that continued to ooze out, his gaze now away from the tall former CPU.

Venus beamed a seductive smile at the young man, her arms pressed up against the bottom of her excessively large breasts, making them bounce ever so slightly. "Hmm? Do my looks take your breath away that much? Oh my, and here I thought you were into small breasts and thinner bodies like Bellona informed me about."

Brian glared at the former goddess, but his little anger attack quickly passed when he thought about the one person who matched those words: Blanc. A small blush appeared on his cheeks and the young man seemed more abashed. "Wh-Whatever. So what if I like someone like that? That doesn't matter to you. So, what do you want with me, Venus?"

"Walk with me, Shadow Walker," Venus said in response as she began to walk off down the grassy field, her figure wavering and shivering in the moonlight. Brian, standing still with a surprised look on his face, soon took off after her. The two walked side-by-side through the dense grasslands of northern Leanbox, there was no wind that night to rustle the trees or the grass, nor were there many clouds to block the bright rays of the moon as it shone its gaze down upon the Land of Green Pastures. There were hardly any sounds to hear, aside from the rustling of grass that came from Brian's heavy booted footsteps, for some reason the Ancient could not hear a single noise come from Venus' footsteps. The former goddess notice Brian's glance and could not help but chuckle at him. "Confused, Brian? Do not worry yourself over it, I am sure you are aware that I am a mere ghost."

"Yeah, I figured that. But that's something that I cannot wrap my head around, just how can you and all the other former CPUs of the four nations still be here? I was told by Bellona, the former Goddess of Lowee herself, that when CPUs died they returned to the very energy that created them: Share Energy. If that is the case then how are you, Bellona, Minerva and Uranus still here as ghosts?" the Ancient Emperor questioned the former CPU, his curiosity rising.

Venus stopped walking and stood still, her figure beginning to waver around once more. "To be truthful, I have no real idea as to why we are still here in this world. IT may have something to do with the one you call Wraith, he was always tinkering around with something so it makes sense to me that he is keeping us in ethereal form in some sort of way."

Brian shrugged. "Well, he is a necromancer, or so I was told at least, whether that has something to do with you being here I do not know."

"Maybe, then again maybe not. I have asked him about it but he always avoids answering it. I have a feeling that he indeed did spice up our Sharicites to make us return to this world in ethereal form, if that is the case then his foresight is without a doubt far superior to my own, whether it is truly a power like mine or he has simply witnessed the future, which is now the present, through his own experiences I do not know. Whatever the case may be that man knows a lot more than he lets people on about." Venus then leaned up against a tree and stared up at the night sky, in her eyes were deep pools of emotions, of thoughts, of visions.

This, however, was utterly interesting to the young man. He stood near the former Leanboxian CPU and stared at her with a curious look in his expression, the anger and frustration that was formerly there had now disappeared, for now. "You truly have the gift of foresight? Awesome. What do you see in those vision of yours?"

"I see things that were, things that are, and some things that have not yet come to pass. Some visions I see told the rise of nations in the past, some informed me about the death of leaders, a few even gave me insight to various different situations that could play out, thus leading to different futures. Not all that I see becomes true, some are merely what could be. That is how dangerous foresight is, for if you let it guide your actions you may end up with a future you may not like. It is both a gift and a curse." The tone in Venus' voice sounded as if she was regretting something, but what that was the Ancient did not know.

Instead, the young man had a very serious question, which the saner side to him did not want to ask, but the other side of his turbulent and unstable mind went ahead with it regardless. "Can you see into my future?"

Venus glanced back at Brian with a stern look in her usually bright expression. "Are you sure? Not everyone can handle knowing their own future, especially those who are already… unstable in the mind, plus I may not be able to call upon new visions on the spot. But if I can accomplish that, would you really want to know your own future?"

Brian raised an eyebrow at Venus' words about the unstable mind being unable to handle the future, for some reason she had looked at the young man with a saddened expression, it seemed as if the former goddess was aware of Brian's 'condition'. Regardless if Venus knew about the state of his mind, the Ancient felt ready to know what his future could be. "Tell me," he responded sternly.

Venus sighed before fully turning to face Brian face-to-face. "Very well then, but do not say that I did not warn you." The former goddess then closed her eyes and began to think deeply into her mind, doing her best to call upon a vision of Brian. "Now then, sometimes situations like this do not work when I am trying to conjure up a vision of a certain person, but if I put my mind to it then I just might succeed. Maybe though, it is hard to tell."

"Just do what you can," the Ancient said as he flicked off some bits of loose grass from his beard.

Venus nodded and began to, concentrate to the best of her abilities, the former CPU's eyelids shuddered and her lips trembled as she forced her mind to show a vision against all of the better judgement that she had garnered over the centuries. The former goddess lightly touched the sides of her head with the palms of her hands as she felt something flow into her mind, then came a whole tidal wave of visions, and not all of them were pleasing to see. Venus cried out in pain as her head was flooded with thoughts and visions of the young man standing before her.

She saw Brian with the cursed blade in one hand and swirling dirt and stone in the other, he was clashing blades with a silver haired woman with an expression filled with anger, both were in a city of black in the night, both had the intent to kill; the second vision was of Brian kneeling down on the snowy ground, a limp body garbed in bloodied red and white clothing was in his arms, his head bowed down as a single tear flowed down his cheek; then there was Brian again, holding Gehaburn in his hands as he stood amidst smoke, heat, dirt and ruin, fighting against a brunette who was shorter than him, both were moving down a landslide as their blades clashed with furious movements before they crashed onto a flat surface, which was followed by the young man grabbing his enemy's throat, almost choking her to death; the next vision was of Brian fighting against someone like himself amidst a city of blue, red, brown and white, smoke rose through the sky, fire engulfed parts of the city and blood covered the streets, the two combatants were bloodied and fought viciously, Brian was covered in bright blue energy while his enemy was covered in dark purple energy. The final and more disturbing vision was of Brian, or at least a more corrupted and slightly daemonic Brian, sitting on a throne made of rusted iron, a wicked and evil grin adorned his face, a grey steel helmet with various short spikes was on his head and his eyes glowed brightly with red and dark purple energy.

All of these visions were highly disturbing for Venus, who not long afterwards let out a painful cry as she fell to her knees in agony, her head was throbbing with pain as the visions burnt her mind. The former goddess grumbled in pain as she rubbed her head to soothe it as best she could, but to no avail. Brian appeared confused with what was going on, he bent down on one knee and shook Venus' shoulders. "Hey, you alright there? What's going in that mind of yours?" the young man asked her, his tone filled with slight concern.

Venus shook her head. "No, I am not alright, in fact my head feels like it is going to explode from all the visions that I just received," she explained, panting deeply for air with a hand clasped over her upper chest. "I saw… I saw many scenes involving you, fighting people and lookalikes amidst ruins, smoke and blood."

"What did you see?" Brian asked as he helped Venus up onto her feet.

As Venus leaned back up against the tree and continued to rub her head in order to soothe the pain, groaning away as she did so, the former CPU looked at Brian with a troubled expression. "I saw many travesties follow you from vision to vision; ever fighting, ever killing, death always following you."

"But what did you see?" Brian asked again, this time with a more stern tone.

The former CPU shook her head dismissively as her expression became pained. "I cannot completely tell you everything that I saw, for I do not want to you to be torn apart by it. All I will say of it is that death will follow you everywhere, old friends will turn into enemies, and your journey may turn out much, much different that what you initially believed. I am sorry that it is cryptic, but what I saw may do more harm to you now than further down the line. That is all I can say, for it hurts my mind." Venus wiped her forehead clean of sweat and sighed. _I knew it was a bad idea to read the future forcefully, but even I was curious as to Brian's future. Now I know the mistake of doing so,_ _and I will not make that again_ _._ _I should have learned my lesson all those years ago,_ _when Minerva fell to the corruption of Darkside_ _._ _I wonder if the Mechanist— er, I mean Wraith— ever felt the lure of such a power?_ _No, he has felt power before, but not Darkside._ Venus thought to herself questioningly.

The young man would have pressed Venus for more information, but soon decided to respect her decision, even if he did not like it. "Very well then, I'm sorry for making you feel alot of pain, from what I can see at least anyway."

The former Goddess of Leanbox chuckled light-heartedly at the Ancient in a Vert-like manner, despite his words being almost dismissive. "Do not worry yourself about a thing, my dear pretty young man. I am perfectly fine, the pain in my head will go away soon."

"Does it usually happen like this, whenever you have these visions?" Brian asked with mixed curiosity. "Plus, do you have to flirt with me like that? I already had Bellona flirt with me last year, although Minerva helped separate that."

Once again Venus chuckled light-heartedly. "Oh I'm not flirting with you, that is merely how I interact with people. I have had people ask me that same question for many, many years when I was alive, it became quite the norm for me in fact. Now as for your question, I do sometimes gain headaches and even more pain than that from receiving visions, but not all of the time mind you, just most times." The tall, busty former goddess began to walk forward past the Shadow Walker until she was standing behind him, her gaze never meeting Brian's, when she spoke the former CPU's voice was almost quiet and distant. "I just remembered that I had a vision about me talking to you about something, then… something happened. I'm not sure what, but I think something bad is about to happen."

Just a few seconds later both Brian and Venus heard the sounds of gunshots in the air, it sounded as if it was coming from the north-east, which incidentally was where Brian's and MAGES' camp was located. The young man's expression changed from curiosity and confusion to one of worry and anger. The Shadow Walker turned around towards the direction of the gunshots, which were occurring more rapidly, and growled viciously. He quickly glanced over at Venus as his eyes flared bright blue. "Sorry that I have to cut this short, but I need to get back before anything happens. I'll see you another time, Venus," Brian informed the former goddess before he ran off across the green, lush grasslands.

Venus did not mind Brian's sudden departure, she knew why he had to run off: to save MAGES from whatever was attacking them at their makeshift camp. As he disappeared into the distance the sounds of rapid gunshots and magical bursts of energy became more deafening, the signs of a skirmish, or even a battle, were beginning to show. The former Leanboxian CPU sighed sadly as she began to fade in the moonlight, turning into blue particles. Before she turned into the particles she said a few final words to herself. "Good luck, Shadow Walker. You will need it before the end of your journey."

* * *

Boredom. It can drive anyone insane, especially for those who had not seen much, if any, action. This was the case for two members out of a three man squad. The three men were soldiers from the Leanbox army, more specifically the Spartans, some of the most fearsome and advanced warriors in all of Gamindustri. The Spartans were made up of genetically advanced humans from the Leanboxian population, most came from the army and a few new recruits came from volunteers among the working population, together they were given internal cybernetic enhancements that increased their strength, durability, agility, and in some cases their intelligence. The Spartans were then given their combat armour, which made them look like bulky space warriors with no weaknesses, not to mention that they looked like something out of a famous game that the Leanbox consoles had, were then given extensive training and were then sent of assignments to defend Leanbox from any danger. While this sounded like a good idea it did have one major flaw: it was under the control of the army general who had dubious loyalty to the Goddess of Leanbox, Vert. Because of this dubious loyalty the Spartans were usually seen as a private army within the actual army, not to mention that rumours were spreading that the generals were in league with the mysterious Justiciar, who was also rumoured to be in league with the just as mysterious 'Guild Master' of the Loweean Guild.

Even with all of the rumours, no matter how true or false they were or the fact that they were not under the control of the regular army and the CPU of Leanbox, everyone could agree that the Spartans were some of the finest soldiers that graced the fields of Gamindustri since the end of the Ancient Era and the beginning of the Goddess Era. When the first bounties for Brian's head came out it was the Spartans who were assigned to go after him and kill the young man, for it was believed that the members of the Guild would only end up getting killed if they went up against the Shadow Walker. Ever since Brian and his new yet unexpected ally, MAGES, escaped Hero City and the clutches of the Spartans, ever running without hardly a break, the strongest and most feared soldiers of Leanbox had been systematically searching across the western and northern coastlines, hearing rumours of sightings involving Brian and MAGES, but whenever it was investigated there was nothing to find.

This was what the three man squad of Spartans were thinking as they made their way across the grasslands of northern Leanbox. None of them had seen action for months, barely any training either as well to keep them occupied. Two members of the squad were becoming tense and irrational due to the amount of time they had been kept away from the front, finding the Shadow Walker and his accomplice, not to mention the payroll had decreased to fund other projects. One of the Spartans kicked away a patch of dirt and snarled at nothing in particular. "Grrah! Goddess damn it!" the soldier blurted out in a fit of fury.

One of the other soldiers in the squad had his green combat helmet with the orange technological visor off his head and was carrying it in his left hand, in his right hand was his assault rifle. He had short, spiky red hair, blue eyes with a scar running down the right side of this face and a stern expression. He looked over at his enraged companion and raised an eyebrow at him. "Hmm? Is there something wrong with you?" the red haired soldier asked.

"Is there something wrong? Is there something wrong?! Of course there is something bloody wrong!" the soldier replied harshly, making his two companions flinch. "Here we are in the middle of nowhere, far north from Leanbox City and those rice-fields that are just north if it, we're going after an elusive criminal and a rogue magician, and we're just going off from flimsy reports of the two to find them around here. Not only that, but I'm bored to hell and I haven't been paid for months. What's not to be angry with?!"

The other two soldiers sighed and shook their heads, much to the enraged soldier's chagrin. The red haired Spartan of Leanbox had noticed that several, it not many, of the Spartans were a little on the mad side, mad with some sort of illness to the mind as well as a bloodthirsty lust for battle. The redhead thought it had something to do with the cybernetic enhancements in some of the Spartans' brains, if it was true then there were side effects to the cybernetic enhancements that Spartans received that made them more than a little crazy. The red haired soldier had not been involved in the cybernetic mind enhancement program, which he was now thankful for. He looked over at the enraged Spartan and noticed how he would kick away mounds of dirt, shredded bundles of grass and would always mumble to himself in a wimpy tone. "Come on already, it isn't all that bad," the redhead said in an attempt to cheer his comrade up. "Besides, just take a look that the thin trail of smoke over there, maybe the Shadow Walker and the Mad Magician are there."

The enraged Spartan shrugged his armoured shoulders as he gazed at the night sky as the trail of thin smoke came into view, yet this did not seem to improve him in the slightest. "Maybe, but the last few times we encountered something like this it turned out to be just a few travellers; it was always travellers. Tch. Bastards. Never respecting the best of the best."

Arrogance was another factor that made the Spartans have a mixed reputation among the people of Leanbox. It was certainly something that the red haired Spartan did not like it, in fact he outright hated arrogance, he had seen enough of it in his life, both as a soldier and before his involvement with the Spartans. He could see arrogance everywhere, and he hated it. It was in the generals of the Leanbox army, it was in members of the Guild, it was in the everyday citizen around Gamindustri, it was just everywhere. Yet despite all of that, the red haired Spartan would still lay down his life for the safety of his country, even if the arrogant leaders were in control and ordered him around. Why? Because he was patriotic towards his country, he would die for the Land of Green Pastures and for the honour of Lady Green Heart. The redhead soldier viewed Green Heart, now more commonly known as Vert those she knew well, as an idol and someone to look up to as a role model. He had heard about Vert's obsession with computer games, but the Spartan had dismissed it as a whole lot of debased rumours. One of the things he could wholeheartedly agree on was the fact that Vert was really beautiful, both in human and HDD form, in fact it made the red haired Spartan blush brightly whenever he thought about the busty goddess he considered to be his idol.

 _I will protect this nation, and Lady Green Heart as well._ The red haired Spartan declared in his thoughts with a large tinge of red in his cheeks as he and his small, undermanned squad approached the site of the smoke, the young red haired man put his helmet back on, made sure his assault rifle was loaded and gripped it tightly with his two hands. To their surprise the three of them found a small camp with sheets roped up around overhanging tree branches and a camp-fire nearby, a leather backpack with two swords next to it were leaning up against a tree, one of the swords was emitting an unnatural dark purple energy, glowing every now and then. "What the hell is that?" the red haired Spartan asked as he approached it, his right hand extending towards it.

Before he could touch it all three soldiers heard a rustling sound coming from the makeshift tent, they stood in a defensive stance as they aimed their weapons at the rustling sheets, their fingers in the triggers, ready to rain bullets upon anyone who was hostile. To their surprise, and to the enraged soldier's excitement, they watched MAGES emerge her head from the makeshift entrance. The four of them stared at each other for a short while before MAGES groaned to herself. "Shit," was all she said before bullets started to fly in her direction.

Only two of the three Spartans opened fire at the Mad Magician, the red haired soldier of Leanbox did not pull the trigger, feeling that two guns firing at her was enough. Not long afterwards the shooting stopped to reveal the makeshift tent, full of holes and fluttering around on the ground, yet there was no sign of MAGES or any blood at all. The quiet of the three Spartans glanced around him, narrowing his eyes through his blue technological visor as he glared at everything at everything around him. "She's still alive," he finally said, breaking the silence.

"Good, that's good. Really, really good," the slightly mad Spartan chuckled, nodding his head. "Finally, we have a fight on our hands!"

"You're a madman," the red haired Spartan said in response as he looked behind him, feeling as if there was something coming, something angry and full of hatred.

Before the enraged Spartan could respond to the young, red haired man's words he, and the other Spartans, heard MAGES emerged with her staff held before her. " **Shiver Beam!** " MAGES shouted as the top of her staff began to glow in a denim blue colour as a magical rune appeared. Multiple beams of magical energy burst forth from the staff and smashed into the Spartans, sending dirt, small rock particles, broken pieces of wood and the Spartans themselves flying into the air.

One of the Spartans, the quiet one, had suffered a direct hit from the attack, he was send flying acorss the field and sent hurdling into a tree. As the Spartan fell to the ground and landed on his back he felt his armour crack as the air escaped from his lungs, the quiet Spartan slowly got back onto his feet, grabbed his assault rifle and charged back into the fray. However, as soon as he got closer to the fight, gunshots and magical energy flying around all over the place, the quiet Spartan could feel something coming, and it did not feel good, his blood was starting to freeze. _Whatever the hell is coming let's hope it stay away from us, we need to either kill or capture MAGES, then we will find the Shadow Walker and bring him to justice. At least I hope. Whatever is out there and is coming towards us is hell-bent on our destruction._

When the quiet Spartan returned to the fight he looked over down at the grassy plains filled with various spots of trees around the place he noticed a small spot of bright blue energy in the distance, it was increasing with speed towards the sight of the skirmish. The Spartan grimaced grimly and readied his assault rifle for combat, the fight was about to get much, much more grisly. The quiet Spartan looked back at the enraging fight to see MAGES and the red haired Spartan in close quarters combat, combat knives against staff, the enraged Spartan was pinned down to the ground with a log on top of him. The red haired Spartan clashed his short combat knives with immense fury and speed, forcing MAGES on the defensive as she attempted to regain her position from a distance.

The red haired soldier was quick with his movements, in fact MAGES had not seen such speed before in any sort of soldier of any nation, not even Brian had such speed from what the Mad Magician had seen. It was as if the red haired Spartan was a super soldier. The redhead Spartan jumped onto the air and gave a roundhouse kick in MAGES' direction, sending her backwards forcefully across the camp. As the Mad Magician wiped away a small trickle of blood from her mouth and looked back at her opponent. "You are a strong opponent, stronger than any other I have faced before. Not to mention that you are faster than any person around, including Brian the Shadow Walker," MAGES said in awe and respect of the Spartan warrior. "Can you tell me your name? If that is possible, of course."

As the quiet Spartan's attention was stolen by the oncoming bright blue figure, and as the enraged Spartan got back onto his feet and reloaded his shotgun, the red haired soldier nodded in respect towards the Mad Magician. "Very well then. I am designated as Spartan No. 267, also commonly known as Joseph or Joe to my friends. But that does not matter to you right now, what matters is whether you will surrender or die. Make your choice."

MAGES narrowed her eyes and gripped her staff tightly, standing in a defensive position while her opponents readied themselves once more. "I'm sorry, but I cannot surrender to the Spartans of Leanbox, to surrender to you is to essentially die. So that is my choice, I must fight." The Mad Magician jumped back and raised her staff at the two Spartans once again as a magical rune appeared. " **Conflagration Dust!** "

Beams of fire burst out of the rune and smashed into the mildly wary Spartans, large flames rose into the air and burnt everything around them for a few seconds before it disappeared. To MAGES' surprise the attack appeared to have had hardly any effect on them, instead as the dust, fire and smoke settled she saw a blue energy field surrounding the two of them. The two Spartans' energy fields soon disappeared before they pulled the trigger of their guns, firing rapidly at the Mad Magician. "Crap!" MAGES yelled as she fell to the ground and rolled out of the way down the small hill to get away from the bullets. She popped her head up alongside her black staff and held it forward as another magical rune appeared while her two attackers continued to fire at her. " **Mechanical Paradox!** "

Beams of magical energy smashed into the Spartans, this time the beams managed to hit something as they crashed into the enraged Spartan, sending him flying across the field towards the quiet Spartan. As the red haired Spartan and the Mad Magician both fired various long range attacks, including a few frag grenades in the process due to the courtesy of Joseph the Spartan soldier, the other two Spartans reloaded their weapons and were about to open fire upon MAGES when they heard the sounds of rapid, heavy footsteps running through the grass behind them. They looked around to see the bright blue figure approaching them, and they recognised who it was: Brian the Shadow Walker. He looked pissed off, incredibly pissed off. Before the two Spartans could ready themselves properly the Ancient pounced at them with rocky mists enveloping the palms of his hands.

" **Stone Thorns!** " Brian shouted as his open, rocky misted hands collided with the Spartans' helmeted heads, two dark brown magical runes appeared over their faces as thorns made of stone appeared, smashing into their helmeted faces with full force.

The quiet Spartan, who's helmet and visor had already received several cracks from MAGES' attacks, was unprepared for the magical attack that Brian unleashed upon him. The stone thorns ripped the Spartan's helmet apart while the thorns pierced through his head, ripping the insides asunder. The second Spartan, the enraged one, fared a little better, despite having a loss of vision in one eye and a heavily broken helmet. The enraged soldier attempted to get back up, his remaining good eye glaring up at the Shadow Walker. "You bastard… I'll kill you!" he shouted in pure anger as he saw blood flow down his head and over his eye.

Brian stared at the Spartan, no sign of any emotion was upon his face as he picked up a handgun and aimed it at the soldier. "Not if I kill you first," was Brian's response as he unloaded every single bullet the pistol had into the Spartan's head. After several seconds the gun was empty. The young man continued to pull the trigger before looking down the barrel, sighing as he realised what was wrong with it, he then proceeded to throw it away in disgust. "How uncivilised."

MAGES and Joseph had stopped their fight to witness Brian annihilate the other two Spartans on the field, the maniacal grin adorning his face did little to calm either of them down. The red haired Spartan growled viciously at the Ancient, quickly forgetting about his duel with the Mad Magician and instead focused his attention at the Shadow Walker himself. "You… I'll make you pay! For the glory of Leanbox, in the name of Lady Green Heart, this I shall do!" Joseph swore as he pulled out his two handguns and pulled the trigger while simultaneously running about to gain a field advantage.

As MAGES wisely decided to keep out of the way and only intervene when necessary, the two men fought it out across the battlefield. Brian was constantly kept on the defensive as he attempted to dodge bullet after bullet, the surviving Spartan on the other hand was merely attempting to gain some sort of advantage. Joseph reloaded his pistols and fired again, this time noticing that his opponent was making a beeline for his swords, more specifically Gehaburn, the cursed sword. The redhead reached back behind him and touched a red button on the small experimental jet-pack, he then rushed forward as the jet-pack propelled him towards the Ancient, colliding with him and sending the two of them forwards until the crashed into a tree. The jet-pack was fried to a crisp, much to Joseph's disappointment; for an experimental contraption it was rather unsafe, which was proven by the scorch marks and the thin cracks around the back of the redhead's combat armour. The first up was Brian, who kick the Spartan across the head and sent him hurdling back to the ground, the Ancient then proceeded to repeatedly punch the Spartan in the head with a Share Energy encased fist.

"Is this all you got?" Brian asked condescendingly as his right fist breached the helmet's visor, revealing an enraged expression, a glaring eye and a scar running down it. "Ah, so you are human. Good. More fun for me then."

"Shut the fuck up!" Joseph growled as he kicked Brian off him. As soon as the redhead jumped up he grabbed Brian by the throat and threw him across the field into a tree, Joseph ran up to the Ancient and punched him in the chest, breaking the tree in half as the Shadow Walker was sent hurdling back. The Spartan grinned and cracked his neck as he saw Brian get back onto his knees, the Share Energy around him started to brighten up and build up around his body while Ancient runes appeared on his flesh, though this did not frighten the red haired soldier. "That is what I can do. Impressed? Because this is the last you will ever see me in action."

"Go screw yourself. No, really, go screw yourself," Brian snarled in an almost too calm voice, his sanity starting to drip away. As soon as he got back onto his feet the young man drew the broken hilt blade of his broken gladius, the weapon became encased in Share Energy. "You know what, I'm starting to have fun. But we both know that this cannot last. Let's end this!"

"Fine by me, monster," Joseph responded as he drew a combat knife from behind his back. "Let us end this fight."

The two combatants stared at each other, neither one wanted to make the first move, for they knew that the first to strike would lose. The Share Energy surrounding Brian flicked and waved around like a candle fire in the wind, the runes burnt in his flesh, his glowing eyes flared brightly. Joseph stood with his combat knife held before him, his gaze glaring in the young man's direction, a leg was positioned behind him so he could either propel himself forward or push anyone back. Eventually, as the owls hooted in their animal tongue the silence was broken, as where the two combatants' patience. Brian and Joseph both charged at each other, running forward with immense speed before their weapons collided with one another. The two of them clashed blade-to-blade, dodging and weaving as both attempted to gain a killer blow.

Brian slashed his broken blade across the green Spartan combat armour of Joseph, it only made a long scar. The Spartan, in return, made an uppercut move with his knife, almost managing to gain a direct hit across Brian's neck, chin and face, but ultimately failed in the attempt. After a short while of clashing the Spartan punched the young man's right arm away before he kicked the Ancient against the right side of his body, hurdling him across the field once more. Joseph sprinted after him, only to be hit by a direct barrage of Share Energy and was emitting from Brian's right arm. The Spartan, however, seemed to not be completely fazed by it, instead he regained his posture and charged. The Ancient responded in kind, bellowing in a long forgotten war cry as he clashed blade-to-blade once again with the red haired soldier of Leanbox.

Eventually Joseph grabbed Brian by the throat and rose him into the air, expecting that he was victorious at last. How wrong he proved to be. The Shadow Walker grinned mischievously as he choked for air, his left hand disappeared into his coat for a few seconds before it returned with an unexpected surprise. A grenade. An incendiary grenade. The young man pulled out the pin and threw it at the Spartan's face. "Eat this!" Brian snarled as he fell to the ground.

"You ass-" Joseph was about to say before the grenade cut off his speech.

The incendiary grenade exploded in a large, fiery blaze, engulfing the area around the two men. Brian was practically unharmed, except for his coat being on fire and almost burnt to a crisp, then there were the burns that had pierced through his mildly unprotected left leg, scorching the clothing and skin, but aside from that he was fine. The red haired Spartan fared a little better in terms of damage, his armour had protected him from the fire, but the force of the explosion forced the Leanboxian man to smash into a tree head first, rendering him unconscious. The Shadow Walker, ignoring the scorching pain in his left leg, passed around the fire that remained and strolled over to the surviving Spartan, glaring at him as he did so.

Not long afterwards MAGES appeared, her expression full of concern. The Mad Magician of Gamindustri stopped to look at Brian's left leg, cringing in pain as she glanced at the burns. "I'd chastise you for not standing guard over the camp, but I will ignore it for now due to the pain you appear to be in. I might know a spell that could soothe the pain away, then I'll need to make a potion or two to properly heal your wound," she informed the young man. "But I fear that the burn marks will remain there forever. Possibly."

"That doesn't matter to me right now, what matters is this guy down here," Brian said in response, the Share Energy surrounding him refusing to go away. The young man threw off the last vestiges of his coat onto the ground as he stood next to the Mad Magician. "Just who the hell is he, and his he dead?"

MAGES bent down and checked Joseph's pulse as best she could. "He's alive, definitely alive," the denim blue haired woman replied.

"What a pity. Guess I should just kill him now and be other with it." Brian raised his broken gladius and was was about to strike downward, it was then that MAGES stopped him by grabbing hold of the young man's wrists, preventing him from slaying the Spartan.

"No! That is enough already, Brian!" MAGES yelled as she held the young man back from slaying Joseph. "You've already killed enough people this day. What would White Heart say and do if she saw you now? What would she do?"

That appeared to have done the trick. The Ancient stopped resisting MAGES and fully stopped his attempt to kill the unconscious Joseph, instead he withdrew and sheathed the broken gladius behind his back, the Share Energy engulfing him slowly disappeared, his eyes returned to their normal brown colour. Brian groaned and smacked himself out of anger. "Dammit, this always happens. Why? Why?! Why do I always go overboard and end up killing indiscriminately?!" the Ancient bellowed towards the night sky, his hatred for himself rising.

"Well that does not matter right now, what matters is getting away from this area as fast as we can. We cannot linger here any longer, no doubt these three were not the only Spartans around, this was too small for a battalion, my guess is this was a small recon squad. Others will be here soon," MAGES informed the young man as she propped the unconscious Joseph onto the tree, his head looking up towards the bright night sky. The Mad Magician then stood up and glanced over at Brian. "Come on, we have to gather our possessions and make a run for it towards the north. I hope that the ferry is still there."

Brian nodded. "Alright then, let's get out of here." As he and MAGES swiftly returned to their makeshift camp Brian's thought turned towards Blanc, the one person who seemed capable of containing the enraged, hateful and malevolent side to the young man's mind. _Blanc, just what have I become? Am I truly a monster? Am I?_ _What will you think of me when I return? I hope it isn't anything too negative, for my sake._ _Everything that is happening is my fault, isn't it?_ _Steady on, Blanc, I'll be there with you and the twins again. I just hope it is for the best._

* * *

 **A/N: Took me a little longer than I previously thought, but I got it done at last. This chapter is a little longer than usual, only because it's full of information regarding various topics, including a snippet into Brian's mental state, more information about the former goddesses and what may be a possible future. If you readers prefer shorter chapters then please do inform me. Making long chapters does take me quiet a while, but while I am more used to it doing shorter chapters like in The Rising Darkness may be preferable for some people, so please to tell me if you prefer shorter chapters. Anyway, if you have any suggestions or questions do inform me, and have a good day if you can.**

 **PS: Thanks again to TheCarlosInferno for his OC, Joseph.**


	7. The Zero Dimension

**Chapter 7: The Zero Dimension**

It was difficult to say whether it was day or night, both looked exactly the same as the other. That was what happening right at that moment with the thoughts in Neptune's confused mind: thinking about the time of day. Neptune and Nepgear were walking side-by-side together with Lucius just ahead of them, his crossbow in both hands, ready for an ambush to occur. Fortunately for the three of them an ambush did not occur during the duration of their journey south-west to the one eyed man's camp, there they would be able to rest easy and ask any questions they felt they needed to know. The trip itself took a little longer than they initially believed, at least two and a half hours of almost non-stop walking; the two goddesses of Planeptune even had to sit down for some time before they could manage walking again.

As the long walk continued Neptune glanced around her and realised that she and the others were finally leaving the ruined city behind them for good, the vast plains of the untamed wild laid before her and Nepgear, as well as their peculiar, otherworldly guide. The ruined streets and mildly destroyed buildings gave way to green fields and trees that were spread across the plains of the wild, but for some reason that Neptune could not understand it felt like the trees were dying, as if there was some sort of magic that was draining their life force and feeding into something else. What that was the Planeptunian Goddess did not know, nor did she really want to know. Further to the south Neptune could see a mountain range peaking over the small forest that laid before it, the mountain range appeared to be a brown and green colour, but it, too, seemed to be dying for some unknown magical reason. Neptune grimaced at the sight of the environment, and the very land, dying all around her before racing after Nepgear and Lucius.

"Hey, Lucy, Why set up shop outside the city?" Neptune asked, stuffing up Lucius' name.

"Because the city is a war zone, it's filled with all manner of daemons and other monstrosities," Lucius began to explain before turning his gaze directly towards the purple goddess. "Also, my name is Lucius, not Lucy. Seriously, how can you stuff up my name, Neput… Neupt… Nepunu… Dammit, why does your name have to be so difficult?"

Neptune was flabbergasted. She cried out in shock, pretended to weep, but was just merely shocked in general. "What is this?! The first OC in this series of fan fiction novels who cannot even say my name?! This is heresy!" However, she soon lightened up and giggled. "Oh well, just call me Nep, Nep-Nep, Neptuna, whatever rhymes with Nep or something with Nep in it, I don't mind."

The enchanter chuckled, amused with Neptune's childish behaviour. "Heh, alright then. I'll call you Nep and I'll call your younger sister Gear from now own, how's that?" He was given a bright smile and a thumbs up from the Planeptunian Goddesses, clearly they was okay with the nicknames. "Alright then, that's good to know. Oh, we're approaching the end of the city, get prepared for anything."

After the group left the ruined city fully behind them they soon encountered a flat plain filled with a mix of dead and live grass, a few trees huddled together with red, brown and yellow of dark and light coloured hides were tied up as a roof with several walls around the tree trunks; it was a rather odd shelter but it did appear to work from first sight. A dead campfire was near by around a few piles of small, loose rocks, metal rods stuck up from the ground and a metal cooking pot was hanging over the embers of the charcoaled wood, the inside of the pot was empty but it looked as if it had been used regularly, and recently as well. A bucket of water was situated nearby, dirt floated on the top along with a few twigs, there were a few more buckets of water underneath a blanket. A backpack was leaning up against a tree, it was filled with cans of food that Lucius had scavenged. Several logs and smooth rocks were placed around the campfire in a circle.

The campsite did not look homely, but Lucius sighed with relief as he walked up to the dead campfire, he sat down on one of the legs before looking back at the Planeptune sisters and beckoned for them to join him. "Well come on then, you said you wanted a rest." the former general told them as he began to light up the campfire again. "Are you two going to sit down or not? I'm starting to get tired of all this waiting around."

"R-Right, sorry 'bout that," Neptune apologised with a quirky smile. She took a seat near Lucius while Nepgear sat next to her older sister, whom the one eyed man still believed was the younger of the two. As the mixed brown and black haired man removed his helmet and placed it down next to him after lighting up the campfire with a bright flame. The Planeptunian CPU gained his attention by asking a question. "So then, how did you get here? Did some sort of wormhole open up randomly and suck you in?"

Lucius shook his head. "No. Well, sort of, it's complicated. I'll leave out the main story and just tell you how it happened." The one eyed man cleared his thought before explaining how he arrived in the middle of nowhere. "It was a while ago, at least two to three months by my reckoning, when I first arrived here. I wasn't alone mind you, in fact there were three of us who left our original dimension, our home world, although we were separated before we arrived here. The journey through that portal was… astounding. Stars were everywhere, shining brightly from all across time and space; it was definitely beautiful and poetic, considering that the Void was pitch black as the deepest pits of Hell itself."

Nepgear titled her head in confusion as soon as the one eyed man finished talking. "The Void? What's the Void? It sounds kind of ominous."

"That is is," Lucius responded as he pocked a stick in the small, contained fire, moving the old embers around. "The Void, as I was told, is the pieces of space between the dimensions; it's mostly pitch black with nothing in it, but apparently it seems that stars from planets, solar systems and dimensions flicker on and off through the Void. I was also told that nothing could survive living in the Void, although that is up to speculation. It's like a dead place."

Nepgear appeared to be a little shaken by the vivid description, but Neptune had wide eyes which were filled with wonder and excitement. "Whoa, that kinda sounds like how me, Nep Jr, P-ko Plutie and Angie saw it when we were sent hurdling here thanks to that magical console."

Lucius raised an eyebrow at what the purple goddess had said. "What strange names for people. Who are they? Friends of yours or something?"

Neptune nodded. "That they are. They're CPUs just like me and my little sister, although out of the three of them only Plutie runs a nations; it's a parallel version of the nation me an Nep Jr run." She giggled after seeing Lucius pull a confused expression. "Confused about CPUs? Well, CPU stands for Console Patron Unit; it's a gaming or a computer reference. Essentially, we are goddesses, born from people's faith and powered by it, or something like that anyway. We can also transform into sexier versions of ourselves thanks to the power of faith, making us stronger, faster, altering our personalities, and generally making perverts drool, although I'd prefer if they didn't do that last part."

Lucius chuckled as he got off the log and began to rummage through his backpack. "As I already told you, seeing is believing. You may claim that you, your sister and these friends of yours are goddesses who can transform into a different form, but I need proof before I can believe it."

The purple goddess stuck her tongue out playfully before breaking out into a cheerful smile. "Aw, you're such a party pooper. Do you even have any friends?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. Only two friends though, well, maybe three if you include _him_ , that crazy dimension travelling man." The former general cleaned out the cooking pot before throwing in some fresh water, when it began to boil he tipped in some cans that he opened previously, emptying the meaty and vegetable contents into the pot. That was when Lucius noticed that the Planpetune sisters were still watching him. "Huh? Oh, sorry. I guess an explanation would be of use, right? My friends are known as Juvia Red-Axe, the Imperial Battlemage of the Empire, and Emperor Uriel Caesar, the Ice Emperor and ruler of the Imperial Empire."

"Ooooh, fancy names and titles. Awesome," Neptune said, were eyes filled with wonder. Even Nepgear was intrigued with the names and titles that Lucius had informed them about. The purple goddess then rubbed her chin thoughtfully, one of the names rang a bell in her mind. Then it clicked. "Hey, I've heard of Uriel before. Been a while since I heard that name."

Lucius stared at the two sisters with shock. "You what? Are you saying that the two of you have heard about Uriel before?" When they nodded the one eyed man's expression turned from shocked to excited. "Who told you two about him? Tell me! I need to know!"

"Um, Wraith did. Should he not have told us about Uriel?" Nepgear replied cautiously, unsure why he was getting so worked up about it. But very soon, when the CPU Candidate noticed the excited and surprised look on his face, she knew that Lucius was not unhappy about the news, instead he appeared to be rather pleased to hear the news.

"No, no it's alright. I'm actually surprised to hear that Wraith told you two about Emperor Uriel," Lucius chuckled. "Although I am rather surprised to hear that you both know about Wraith. Where is he? When was the last time you saw him? I need to see him!"

The purple goddess of fourth wall breaking was initially surprised with the sudden questioning, but she weathered through it and merely shrugged her shoulders before speaking. "Nah, sorry there, mate," Neptune apologised with an apologetic smile. "To be honest, me and a few of my friends have been looking for him for the past year, but we've been unable to locate him. Why do you need to find him anyway?"

"Answers," was Lucius' response. The one eyed man went silent as he began to stir the mildly cooked food in the pot with a wooden spoon, clanking the wooden object against the brim of the cooking pot. He looked back at the Nep sisters to see them staring at the pot, the one eyed commander chuckled at the sight. "Sorry, should have asked if you two were hungry. Anyway, how do you two know about Wraith? What was he doing?"

As Neptune was about to explain to Lucius how she, her younger sister and their friends knew Wraith the Ancient God of Time, the ominous sounds of rumbling crackled from above them violently, the dark purple cracks in the sky were thundering noises at the world below. The dimension was slowly dying around the group, and it was making it that fact obvious. Neptune and Nepgear glanced upwards towards the broken sky to see the dark purple and dark blue cracks above them start to expand ever so slightly, the broken sky rumbled again to the sounds of daemonic roaring that echoed through the trees and the city, filling the air with fear. The CPU Candidate of Planeptune glanced around swiftly, her eyes wide with fear, as if she was expecting a daemon or two to appear out of nowhere and attack them without remorse. Lucius glanced over at Nepgear and gave her a caring smile, at least he tried to make it look like a caring smile, while sticking his right thumb up.

"Hey, don't worry about those bastards, no daemons come over here. They always end up with a crossbow bolt between their bloodthirsty eyes before they even get near the camp," Lucius told the Candidate of Planeptune. "You shouldn't worry about them getting here, I'll make sure they're dead before those daemons even get near the camp. Anyway, back to what I was asking beforehand, how do you know Wraith and what was he doing?"

As Nepgear felt some pain in her stomach and her head, the elder sister spoke up to answer the question. "Well, it's kinda complicated, in a way," Neptune began to explain. "You see, Wraith came hurdling into our dimension at some random time that not even we know about, but he did have a purpose of sorts. He was looking after a… friend from afar while helping us against the Dark Captains, who had come from a different dimension to do some weird necromantic thing or something to bring back a Dark Lord they worshipped into our dimension; I don't know if they were successful though. They were taken care of though, by that I mean they're dead, but that was when Wraith went missing."

To both Neptune and Nepgear's surprise they saw Lucius' expression turn sour when he heard about the Dark Captains, it then soon hit the two goddesses that the one eyed man knew the Dark Captains; he was from their dimension. "Did you know them well?" Nepgear asked, soon afterwards she regretted asking that question. Lucius grimaced grimly and gripped the end of his tunic tightly, sighing depressingly as he stared at the cooking pot. "S-Sorry for asking, I'm guessing it's kind of personal and sensitive."

Lucius shook his head and his right hand dismissively. "No, it's alright, I just never had to talk to people I barely know about my life." The former general rubbed a hand through his scruffy hair and sighed. "Well, all I can tell you about them is probably the same things you already heard back from where you two are from, but you should know that despite being dead there is still much to fear, for those four have the power of the Dark Lord Agandur within them, their life force is one with him. If they are truly dead then there is not much to fear, but I have a feeling that the Dark Lord is still out there somewhere, whether in your dimension or somewhere else, but if you two manage to get back to your home then I suggest you keep a watchful from then onwards. Sometimes the dead have trouble staying still."

Before Neptune could question Lucius further about what he meant both she and the one eyed man heard Nepgear groan in pain as she rubbed her head, a headache had taken old in her mind, and it did not look good from what the purple goddess and the crossbow wielding man could see. The CPU Candidate rubbed her temples roughly and grunted as she moved her head slightly. "Urgh… I don't feel so good," she murmured with a tired tone.

The purple goddess stared worryingly at her younger sister; she appeared to have been concerned at first, but then came the teasing. "Are you tired, Nep Jr? You look worn-out, guess it was from all the work that Histy made you do back home. We don't need another Noire in our ranks, having two overworking goddesses is more than enough."

Lucius sighed as he reached underneath his armour and grabbed a small flask of fresh water, he handed it over to Nepgear, who took it with a mildly confused look. "There's some fresh water in there, it's perfectly safe for consumption," the enchanter informed the lilac haired Candidate. "Drink it slowly and get some rest, no doubt you are suffering from fatigue due to working too much and side effects from travelling between dimensions. There is a bedroll inside the makeshift tent that you can use; I salvaged it from the nearby ruins around a month ago and surprisingly in good shape. Just get some rest and you will be fine by tomorrow."

The Candidate nodded weakly as she got off the log and made her way to the bedroll for some rest, once she had crawled into it her older sister, Neptune, looked back at the one eyed man and chuckled. "You're too kind to be a general, not to mention you look too young to be one as well. Just how old are you, and why all the kindness? Not that I'm against it mind you."

Lucius sighed and shook his head, this time out of amusement. "You are right, Nep, I am rather young to be a general and too kind for a roughened up soldier. If you are wondering how old I am, I happen to be twenty-six years of age." The surprised expression upon Neptune's face made the young former general chuckle in amusement once more. "Yeah, I thought you would look like that once I told you. I am rather young for a general, or a former general to be exact, right? Well, my emperor is a little younger than me, around twenty-three I think."

"Fancy," Neptune said as she stretched her arms out, sighing with relief as she slouched forward again, scratching her back like a lazy person in the morning would. Not long afterwards her expression soured and sadness appeared all over her face. "I know… knew… an emperor back from where I'm from, he was a sweet person before… actually, I rather not talk about that. Bad memories and all that."

The enchanter nodded his head sympathetically. "I understand, Nep, truly I do. There is just some things that we do not want to talk about, especially to people who are basically strangers, to an extent. Maybe one day you'll talk about it though, maybe." The young general continued to stir the contents of the cooking pot, the mood had grown dim between him and Neptune, much to his dissatisfaction. Lucius did want to know more about this emperor that the purple goddess was referring to, but she seemed a bit touchy about the subject, as if something had happened that was giving her grief. The one eyed man returned his attention towards Neptune and gave her a cheerful smile. "Hey, cheer up, Nep, let me see that cheeky and cheerful grin on your face again. We may have met under strange circumstances but I do find you to be quiet interesting, in a way; plus you have already cheered up my dreadful day. Chin up, look good, and stay happy. Got it?"

Neptune gazed at the one eyed man with wonder, not long afterwards she burst out into a fit of laughter, confusing Lucius as she fell off the log and rolled around on the ground. After a minute or two of laughing the purple goddess wiped the tears away from her face, sat on her knees and smirked at Lucius. "My my, aren't you the smooth talker? I bet you were a fan of the ladies back home for all those types of words, weren't you?"

This time it was Lucius' turn to laugh. He shook his head and sighed, an amused look on his face. "No, I was never a ladies man like that, had no time for relationships. Although, there was that one time… actually, I'd rather not talk about it, bad memories you see. Heh, guess there are some things that we just don't want to discuss. Talk about similarities there."

Neptune giggled, smiling at the one eyed man. "Yeah, guess we got something in common, me ol' pirate."

"Don't you dare associate me with those raiders!" Lucius yelled furiously as he stood up, his left hand upon the hilt of his sheathed sword, his eye glaring viciously at the purple goddess. Soon afterwards he sighed depressingly, but kept the glaring look in his eyes as he stared at Neptune. "Look, from no on do not call me a pirate, understood? I've killed too many of those bastards to be considered one of them."

"I-I'm sorry if I hit a nerve, I didn't mean to offend you or anything," Neptune quickly apologised as she got back onto her log and sat directly in front of Lucius, who had now calmed down enough to sit back down and observe both the purple goddess and the food that he was cooking. Neptune, now intrigued with Lucius' one eye predicament, wondered how he lost it. "So, um, how'd you lose that left eye of yours? S-Sorry if you're sensitive about it, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

The orange eyed man chuckled, clearly he was not sensitive about the lose of his eye. "It's fine, Neppy, I can talk about it if you want." The one eyed man then got himself comfortable on his log while staring at Neptune. "I lost my eye during the Great War, the war where me, Uriel, Wraith, Juvia and the Imperial Empire fought against Agandur the Dark Lord, his Dark Captains and the dominion they had forged for themselves. During one of the battles against Lothar the Bloodthirsty I was having a personal duel with that barbarian meat sack, that was when I lost my left eye to him. Lothar slashed a knife down the side of my face and rendered my left eye useless. Heh, at least it gave me a cool nickname: Lucius 'Cyclops' Amulius. Juvia, one of my childhood friends, was the one to call me that."

"Ooooh, that is pretty cool," Neptune said, beaming with wonder. Their conversation was interrupted by the pained groans of Nepgear, who had trouble getting to sleep due to the headache. The purple goddess looked over towards her younger sister with a troubled expression. "Do you really think she's going to be okay, Lucy?"

Lucius, doing his best to keep stirring the food in the pot around as well as ignoring the nickname he had been given, nodded to allay Neptune's fears. "Don't worry about it, I'm no doctor but I know she'll be up and about tomorrow with boundless energy. Anyway, the food is getting ready, time to eat. We'll be venturing into the city tomorrow to scavenge for more supplies as well as to look for your friends. Who knows, maybe with your help I might be able to locate Emperor Uriel's position for the first time since I got here." He then glanced at the purple goddess with a serious look in his eye. "Although, from what I saw earlier, you need to learn how to be a better fighter, what you were doing against those daemons was at an amateur level."

Neptune stuck her tongue out at the one eyed young general before pouting at him. "I can fight well with a sword thank you very much! I only had a wooden katana to defend myself with, that's all there is to it. Besides, in my HDD form, Hard Drive Divinity if you didn't know, I am far better than anyone at swordplay, my dear one eyed friend" As she berated the former general the purple goddess may have looked well with a teasing expression, but she was starting to get a small headache, a side effect from dimension travelling.

"Yeah yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. Just shut up and eat your fill," Lucius responded as he handed Neptune a bowl of meat and vegetable stew; it did not look too appetising but it did taste good and was rather nutritious. Lucius smirked as he watched Neptune scoff down her meal energetically once she discovered that it tasted good. It was then that an idea popped into his head, although it was not the best. "I have an idea: if you can find a way to prove that you and your sister are indeed goddesses then I'll do whatever you want for a day. Deal?"

Neptune stared at him as if he was a madman, then she laughed loudly at the bet the one eyed commander had laid out before her. "You sure you wanna make that bet? If so then I'll find a way, then you'll definitely regret making a gamble like that, Lucy."

The mixed brown black haired man chuckled, yet he was somewhat worried about the young-looking, lilac haired woman's tenacity. However, Lucius merely laughed it off as he began to get used to Neptune calling him by a girl name whilst eating dinner, or afternoon tea depending on who was asked. _Heh, she's probably one of the most childish person I have ever encountered, and that_ _isn't a bad thing at all. She's… weird to say the least, but entertaining. This is definitely one of the most strangest ways I have ever made a friend,_ _but it isn't the worst way to go around it. Let's hope that we find our missing friends; it has been too long since I've seen Emperor Uriel, and I need to find Wraith so I can get some answers. I hope Nep and_ _Gear_ _can find a way back to their dimension, and who knows, maybe I might join them; there's nothing in this wasteland that is going to make me live here forever._

* * *

Angel groaned with a masochistic sigh as he rubbed his head whilst leaning up against a ruined wall, the hard bricks torn down from the war that rage within the wasteland of a city. The young man had a minor migraine in his head due to the side effects of dimension travelling; it was not the first time he had received it, in fact the first time Angel had received this type of headache was when he was first transported back to Gamindistri by the portal Wraith created in Brian's room back on Earth. As the sadistic god continued to groan masochistically he remembered his time on Earth. It was truly an odd time in his life, although it was hard to remember certain aspects of it, especially since Wraith – who was practically his adopted father – had tampered with the young man's memory to make him forget the God of Time. Despite the tampering of his memory, Angel did not fully mind it at all, instead he saw it as just another weird thing that the tall man with the welsh accent did.

 _Heh,_ _Wraith was always a strange guy, wasn't he? I wonder if he's on this hell hole?_ _He probably is, knowing that Welshman. If Wraith is around here somewhere then_ _he's_ _probably_ _right in the middle of this shit._ Angel thought as he began to get back onto his feet, the headache slowly starting to numb away, much to the disappointment of his masochistic side. Soon afterwards he heard the sounds of cute groaning come from his left, the young man looked down to see Plutia on the ground amidst rubble, her head was up against a brick while her body was curled up in an attempt to make herself comfortable. She was sleeping on the cracked pavement, her body moved about slightly as she breathed in and out, low yet cute sighs and groans escaped her mouth. Whether she was having a good dream was unknown to the young man, but soon enough Plutia's expression became pleasant, and cute to Angel's mind.

"Seriously? You fall asleep after travelling between dimensions just like that?" Angel asked the petite, sleeping goddess, knowing he would not get a proper response. The purple eyed god chuckled as he knelt down next to Plutia and shook her slightly, failing to wake her up. Angel chuckled once more as he began to carefully pick the sleeping CPU up and give her a piggyback ride, all while being careful not to wake her up. _I'd prefer it if Plutia would walk herself around, but she's just too adorable to wake up at the moment._ _Besides, I don't mind giving her a piggyback ride for now,_ _it's been a while since I gave her one anyway._

As Plutia snuggled her head up against the left side of Angel's head, the wolf-like CPU of Gamindustri gazed at his surroundings while he walked down the ruined street to goddess knows where, nothing made any sense to him. Everything around him was in a ruined state, from the road to the walls of buildings and to even the vehicles that dotted the area, everything was destroyed and in tatters. When Angel looked upwards he saw the broken dark purple sky and the cracks that were spread all over the place, the wolf god whistled loudly as he stared at the dying sky with wonder, his questions only increasing. Suddenly he realised that there was someone missing, and it was not either Neptune or Nepgear. "Oh shit, where's Peashy?" he asked himself worryingly, his gaze swiftly turning left to right, up and down and behind him. "Peashy? Peashy?! Where are you?! Ah crap, look like Plutia is going to punish me once she finds out. Hmm… actually, I don't think that's a bad idea, not bad at all. Still, I need to find Peashy before the situation gets out of hand, even though it's far beyond that. Where the hell are we anyway?"

Angel's thoughts were soon disturbed by a thundering daemonic roar that echoed all around him, although from what the young man could tell the roar was coming from the south, and it was not too far away so whoever or whatever was out there happened to be nearby down a few streets away. "What the fuck was that?" Angel asked himself, his gaze was now directed towards the southern ruins. "Wonder if it's dangerous? Oh, who am I kidding? Of course it is."

The daemonic roar was enough to awake Plutia from her peaceful slumber, she groaned audibly before yawning into Angel's left ear, yet he did not seem to mind it, to him the yawn that the small goddess on his back emitted was attractive. She opened her eyes and slowly look at her surroundings before realising that she had her arms hanging down Angel's shoulders, her legs on either side of the young man's hips, her head up against his and the sadistic god's arms were holding her up against his back. When Plutia spoke her words were sluggish. "Huh? Where are we?" she asked slowly with a tired tone. "Last I remember was falling asleep next to you under a beautiful sky after getting sucked into some sort of portal. The sky was dark purple with purple and dark blue cracks, although everything was kinda ruined everywhere around us. Was that just a dream?"

Angel shook his head. "No, that wasn't a dream. Take another look around you, Plutia, I think you'll find that we really did travel to another dimension."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, you're right," Plutia mumbled as she gazed around her once again, this time with a much longer attention span and better memory. Then she asked the question that Angel dreaded and secretly wanted to hear for the supposed punishment his masochistic side wanted. "Hey, Angie, where's Peashy? I thought she was with us, along with Neppy and Neppy Jr. What happened?"

Angel shrugged, he had no honest idea as to what happened, although he did have a theory. "I'm not completely sure, but I'm think that we separated once we arrived in this hellish place, so I do not know where Peashy, Neptune or Nepgear could be. Do you think they'll be fine once we catch up with them? _If_ we catch up with them."

Plutia hummed thoughtfully to herself, being rather deep in thought, surprisingly. Soon, after a minute or two of thinking to herself, Plutia spoke. "Hmm… well, I think Neppy and Neppy Jr will be fine, it's just Peashy I'm worried about the most. She might be a CPU of a nation that no longer exists, but she is still just a child, and she isn't the best with taking care of herself."

"She doesn't know how to take care of herself that well? Is that why Peashy always like hanging around people, especially me, you and Neptune? She just, I don't know, looks up to us or something?" Angel asked with curiosity. The young man had known Peashy for around a year now, but there were certain things about her that he did not know nor could understand, not to mention that he did not know her past aside from the Eden Crisis. When Plutia nodded in response to Angel's questions, the young man sighed. "So I guess that's the reason why Peashy views me as an older brother to her."

Plutia nodded again, this time smiling brightly. "That's right, Angie. And I must say, you've put o na good impression to her as an older brother for the past year; she really looks up to you and has been more cheerful ever since she thought of you as a big brother."

"Hmph. I'm not that much of a big brother figure, in fact I barely pass as eligible material for any brother-like figure. Well, at least I'm far better off than what happened to the brother-sister-like relationship between Brian, Rom and Ram; those two Candidates are still sorrowful," Angel said absent-mindedly as he turned down a corner, continuing to hold Plutia up behind his back. "Hey, Plutia, why is Peashy so clingy? I can understand that she's practically a child, and forever will remain a child, but she's more clingy than anyone else that I've seen in Gamindustri thus far. Why is that?"

Plutia yawned – not due to boredom but instead because of how tired she was – before answering in a stern tone, the smile on her face had disappeared and was replaced with a serious look. "I haven't told you about Peashy's past because it's a little sad, well for me at least, not to mention that it is filled with gaps and is kind of confusing, but since she sees you as family then you should hear it." The CPU of Ultra Planeptune cleared her throat before explaining Peashy's past to the young man. "Peashy was an orphan for most of her life, she did not know who her parents were and she still doesn't know, neither do I or mini Histy for that matter. She grew up in an orphanage alongside Iffy and Compa, the parallel version from my dimension. Afterwards it is difficult to say since Peashy has forgotten what happened, but all that we know is that she ate a CPU Memory at some point and managed to get herself transported to your dimension – the Hyperdimension."

"So what's the sad part? The part where Peashy was an orphan? That isn't totally sad, you know," Angel responded, grunting as he straightened his back, causing Plutia to jiggle up a bit. "Sorry. Anyway, about Peashy's trip to the Hyperdimension, how was she able to do that? Was there some sort of inactive portal lying around, or was it because of something else?"

The small goddess shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, Angie, wish I did though. Hey, you don't think Wraith had anything to do with it, do you?"

This time it was Angel who shrugged. "No idea, although Wraith has been known to get himself involved with all manner of small and petty things throughout history; such is the trouble with time travel through the Ancient method of dimension jumping." Angel sighed and shook his head in amusement, his adoptive father's antics, no matter how important or crazy they were, always had something to do with the Hyperdimension. The young man noticed the troubled look on Plutia's face and sighed in response to it. "Don't worry about it, Plutia, I'm sure Peashy will be fine. She is the strongest CPU that I've encountered, even stronger than Neptune and Blanc put together, so I'm sure she can handle herself until we find her. Don't worry, I'll take good care of Peashy once we find her."

The short, sleepy goddess giggled uncontrollably at Angel, she could barely contain her amusement towards the young man. Eventually, when she calmed down, Plutia addressed Angel in an amused tone. "I thought you didn't like the idea of being an older brother figure to Peashy. Why the sudden change?"

The young man chuckled, shrugging his shoulders as he did so. "Guess I must've had a change of heart. Besides, it's not that I don't like being an older brother to Peashy, it's just that I don't know how to be one is all."

"You're doing a fine job at it, even though you aren't actually doing much at all. Just being there for Peashy, listening to what she has to say, playing games with her and generally paying her some attention is enough," Plutia responded with a bright yet tired smile, her arms gently wrapping themselves around the young man's neck. "Just keep doing what you do, and everything will be fine between you and your 'little sister'."

"Heh, if you say so, Plutia," Angel said with a smirk on his face, resulting in the CPU of Ultra Planeptune to kiss him on the left cheek. The young man blushed slightly before he regained his composure. "As much as I don't mind the affection you give me, at least give me some sort of warning beforehand. Oh, by the way, I've been meaning to ask someone this, but do CPUs even have last names? I thought Peashy would have had some sort of last name, in fact I don't think even IF and Compa have any as well. Why is that?"

"I don't know, maybe we never needed last names in the first place, or maybe they aren't important. Do you have a last name, Angie?" Plutia asked, curious to know the answer.

Angel nodded as she and the goddess on his back passed a ruined hotel, the walls torn down, the ceiling had collapsed and its contents were sprawled across the area for all to see. The young man stepped over a small pile of bricks and continued on his merry way to goddess knows where – he did not know where he was walking to, but the sadistic wolf god know he had to start somewhere if he wanted to find Peashy. At any rate, Angel did want to tell Plutia his last name; despite being a couple for over a year there were some things about them that neither of them knew. "Sure, I'll tell you my last name, Plutia. My last name is Heller. Angel Heller. That last name caused me to to have the nickname 'Hell's Angel' back at school."

Plutia giggled as she snuggled her head up against the young man, her hair covering the left side of his face as the Goddess of Ultra Planeptune showed her affection towards her lover. "I think that nickname suits you well, considering your personality quirks."

"Quirks? What quirks, my little sadomasochistic CPU girlfriend?" Angel asked with a smirk on his face. "Besides, I think it suits you as well, especially when you transform."

"But you like it when I transform, don't you? I know you do, you always drool whenever I turn into my HDD form," Plutia said with a cheeky smile, her arms around Angel tightened ever so slightly. Soon afterwards the sounds of daemonic roaring were heard again, this time it was closer than before, and louder as well. Plutia raised her head and stared to the south where the thundering roars were coming from, at least she assumed it was the south at least, it was hard to tell with how the sky appeared. "Angie, we aren't alone."

"I know. If you want to help fight whatever is approaching, then feel free do to so, but either way I'm going to have to put you back on the ground for now," Angel informed his lover, much to her disappointment.

As soon as Plutia was back on her feet both she and Angel saw what was making the noises, and it shocked them. It was a daemon that the young sadist had only seen in computer games back on Earth, but there was something unnatural about it, it was as if death itself surrounded it. The daemon reminded Angel of a Minotaur from Greek mythology, but instead it was less hairy and more scaly. The daemon stood at around twelve feet with scarred red scales covering its entire body, its head was large and bull-like with two horn sticking out of either side, hoofed feet were connected to thick legs that had visible and deep scars running all over them, the arms were bulky with hands that had three thick fingers, a two-handed battleaxe was held in its hands. It took one look at Angel and Plutia with its daemonic red eyes, snarled viciously and charged, the loincloth around the daemon's waist fluttered around involuntarily.

The brown haired sadist grinned wickedly as he held out his right hand, it shone brightly for a few seconds before Angel's new Ancient enchanted, two-handed longsword, the unknown enchantment on the Ancient longsword hummed quietly as the young man stood in a defensive position with Plutia just behind him, his daemonic enemy raced forward with his head lowered and its axe raised. "This is going to be good. Come and get some you ugly piece of shit!" Angel bellowed as he swung his new sword upward while his opponent swung its battleaxe downwards. The two weapons clashed together in a fury, sending sparks and magical energy flying everywhere as both fighters began to fight to the death.

* * *

It was a most unusual sight for anyone to see, if there were any actual humans wandering around to see it, which there were not – except for one or two who were not locals. Amidst the ruins of a city at war there was a strange sight to see. In the ruins of what was once a home sat Peashy, the small child of a goddess was sitting on a mildly broken green chair in what had once been a kitchen, she was staring at a tall, black hooded and coated man with flaring bright blue, red and dark purple eyes. The tall man was leaning up against the cracked wall with his arms crossed over his chest, his multicoloured eyes were fixated upon the small CPU near him, who in turn was looking up at him as well. It felt rather awkward for the tall man to be with Peashy, he had no real idea how to take care of her despite raising Angel Heller since he was a baby.

The awkward silence between Wraith and Peashy was soon broken by the yellow goddess, who showed no real sign of concern for herself despite being in a hellish landscape. "Where's Plutie and Angie?" she asked, her gaze firmly directed at the tall, Welsh accented man. As Peashy continued to question Wraith her tone became wimpier while her expression soured. "Why aren't they here? Also, where's Neptuna and Nep Jr? Why aren't they also here?"

Wraith sighed depressingly and rubbed his temples, he was feeling annoyed at the moment due to the constant questioning that was now under way. _This is just annoying, terrible and utterly annoying._ Wraith thought as Peashy continued to question him, her tone of voice becoming more annoyed and sometimes even sad. _And here I though raising Angel was a challenge, considering how he could be at times. But this… this is_ _just beyond what I had expected of children. Hold on, is Peashy even a child? Damn, just what I needed to know: I don't know how old she is or if she really is a child. Well, guessing from what I'm witnessing_ _I suppose she is a child not only physically but also mentally as well._ _This is going to be a rough time_ _until I can find others, if they are nearby that is_ _._

"C'mon, Wraithy, tell me where Angie, Neptuna and the rest are!" Peashy continued, pouting more and more with a dissatisfied look. "Aren't you going to tell me where they are? Don't you know anything?"

"Enough with the childish arrogance and demands, Peashy. You are a CPU for crying out loud, so start acting like one!" Wraith replied back with a harsh tone, his eyes and entire body lit up like a light as his multiple kinds of Share Energy flared up all over him out of frustration. Soon afterwards the tall, dimension travelling man calmed down and sighed once more as he noticed Peashy's frightened expression. "Sorry about that, Peashy, truly I am. Guess I am starting to lose control over the seals in my mind…"

"Wh-What seals? A-Are you feeling alright, Wraithy?" Peashy asked nervously, her fear of Wraith's anger had not yet gone away.

Wraith nodded weakly before rubbing his forehead. "Yeah, I'm fine, or at least I will be fine. Don't worry about me, Peashy, instead you should be worrying about yourself and how you are going to take care until your friends arrive, if they find this place that is."

"But doesn't that mean you have to look after me 'till Angie, Plutie or Neptuna get here and find me?" Peashy asked, pouting as she did so. The yellow goddess crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the tall man for a reason that the tall man did not about, nor did he care about it.

"I'm the Ancient God of Time, not a babysitter. Wait until the others have been located, if you are telling the truth," Wraith said as he got off the wall and made his way into another part of the ruined house, most likely what used to be the living room. As the tall man gazed at his handiwork, which basically involved wooden and steel plated walls that covered the holes in the roof, walls and anywhere else, he heard a rumbling sound that came from Peashy's stomach. The dimension traveller raised an eyebrow at the young child goddess. "What's wrong with you now?"

"I'm hungry. Feed me," Peashy demanded as she rubbed her stomach.

"Sorry but I don't have any food or water for you, and I am telling you the truth, Peashy. I never had any need to carry supplies like food and water for consumption, never needed it for a long, long, long time," Wraith replied with an uncaring tone, which made Peashy confused. The tall man noticed the odd look in her expression and chuckled. "Confused? So was Uriel, Lucius and Juvia when I told them. You see, I am what most people in different dimensions would call a lich."

The yellow goddess tilted her head and continued to stare at Wraith with a confused look. "A lich? What's a lich? Is it like food? Is it tasty?"

This time Wraith laughed. The tall, Welsh accented man leaned up against a steel plated wall and shook his head in amusement. After calming down slightly Wraith held his left hand over where his heart was as a bright blue light appeared, as the light disappeared Peashy noticed that Wraith was holding a Share Crystal in his left hand, it was glowing brightly yet appeared it to have red and dark purple energy flowing through it. "No, no that isn't what a lich is. A lich is an undead person who keeps the energy of their life force inside some sort of magical object, like what I have done with this fragment of a Sharicite. Don't ask how I became a lich, that is something I never want to talk about," Wraith explained as the piece of Sharicite disappeared back inside his heart in a flash.

"So… no food then?" Peashy asked again after several minutes of silence, causing Wraith to chuckle again out of amusement. When the tall god shook his head the yellow goddess pouted audibly. "Find something, I'm hungry!"

Wraith groaned as his annoyance towards Peashy began to settle back into him. _I swear,_ _Angel was never as much of a pain as this girl is right now._ Wraith thought as he rubbed his temples, frustration began to return to him as Peashy continued to demand food. That was when the two of them heard the thundering roar coming from the south-east. Wraith gazed at the direction of the daemonic roar as he walked over to what was once the front entrance of the house, but he could only see ruined houses, the cracked sky and the torn apart road that splintered all over the place, even into the air. "Daemons. Whatever type of daemon that made that noise is close, too close for comfort in fact," Wraith mumbled. He turned around to see Peashy standing behind him. "Want to see what's out there? Who knows, maybe we'll find your missing friends out there."

"Can we?" Peashy asked, her eyes wide and full of hope, plus she did want to see the daemon for herself.

Wraith chuckled. "Sure thing, just keep up with me and stay close at all times. Now then, let's get moving"

The adventure through the ruins of the unknown city went rather smoothly, which was surprising given what was going on throughout the place. In the end, Wraith had to carry Peashy on his back, much to his annoyance, while they searched through the ruins in the attempt to find the daemon and anyone else who had arrived in the dying dimension. To both of their disappointment neither found any daemon, but as they were preparing to return to Wraith's base they heard the sounds of steel clashing, daemonic roaring, furious yelling and crumbling ruins. Wraith, who was standing with Peashy atop the flat roof of what was once a clothing store, looked down in the distance to see Angel, holding his bloodied Ancient two-handed longsword in both hands, slicing off the leg of a bull-like daemon. The daemon cried out in pain as it fell to the ground while the sadistic wolf-like CPU lopped of its other leg before he continuously stabbed his blade into the daemon's back, a sadistic grin forming across his face. Plutia was standing nearby, watching the scene unfold before her without much shock at all.

"Well, I guess we've found Angel, Plutia and the daemon who was roaring before," Wraith sighed as Peashy climbed onto his back once more. "Hold on tight, Peashy, we're going to go down there and pay a little visit to this 'big brother' of yours."

"What do you mean by- WHA?!" Peashy was about to ask before Wraith jumped off the roof of the building and landed on the ground, sending small ripples of shock waves around him as he stood there.

After Angel cut the daemon's head off he looked over towards the newcomers to see Wraith standing tall with Peashy looking over his head, once the sadistic man saw them he could not help but grin at the two of them together as he laid his sword down. "Heh, I didn't know you liked hanging around children, Wraith," Angel greeted the God of Time after having not seen him for over a year.

"Shut up, you mangy piece of fish bait," Wraith replied back in kind, grinning underneath the black scarf that covered the lower half of his face. Despite his insult towards Angel the young man knew that it was just one of the common ways his adoptive father would greet someone, sometimes at least.

Peashy, who was more than excited to see Angel and Plutia again, leapt off Wraith's back and straight into Angel's arms, the young man had not been expecting that to happen and thus fell to the ground with the yellow goddess on top of him with her arms tightly around his neck. As Angel did his best, which in the end was to become futile, to keep the overly happy Peashy under control, Plutia walked up to Wraith and smiled at him. "Hello there, Wraithy. It's been a while since we've seen you."

"I know. I heard that it's been over a year since you lot have seen me. For me it has been a few months at best, at least two to three by my reckoning, so the Massacre of Haruno Village is still fresh on my mind," Wraith explained solemnly, soon afterwards his gaze went up to the strange sky above them as he sighed.

"Hey, I know we're just happy to see each other again, but I have to ask a very serious question here. Where the hell are we?" Angel asked as he managed to get back onto his feet with Peashy on his back, her arms wrapped around his neck while her legs were hanging down his arms, which were holding her up.

Wraith chuckled, but it was not in a normal, amused way, instead it sounded more wicked an unnatural."Now wouldn't you lot like to know? Very well then. This is the middle of nowhere, the lost world, the dying dimension, the place where no human could live, the place where never ending war takes place." The tall man then turned his back towards Angel, Plutia and Peashy as he stared up at the sky, thunder broke out and dark purple lightning erupted all around the city. "Welcome, my friends, to the Zero Dimension."

* * *

 **A/N: I finally managed to get this done, and none too late. I am so sorry for the long update, longer than usual anyway, but I have been busy as of late, mainly university work, gaming, reading, sleeping and a few health check ups. Overall I'm okay, not great but I'm alright; actually I've been feeling like shit for the last few days and staying up late is not helping me. I haven't put everything I wanted into this chapter but it still is pretty informative. I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out, mainly because I'm suffering Writer's Block whenever I think about the next chapter's events; I have two in mind but I cannot think much about it. Instead I will work on Subject 13: Mars until I can create a new, flowing chapter for Age of War. Regardless, thank you all for waiting patiently to read this, if you have any suggestions please do inform me and do your best to have a good day.**

 **Also, thank you angeldoesmc for the last name to your OC. Have a good day if you can.**


	8. The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend

**Chapter 8: The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend**

Silence. That was all MAGES could make out of the area around her and the camp. Something did not seem right to the Mad Magician's mind, yet she did not know why, her defensive senses were blaring all over. MAGES was sitting down on a log in front of the campfire, her gaze was directed towards the small flickering flame that wavered around slightly before the blue haired Magician. There was no wind to be felt or heard, the nearby trees were as still as the rocks, the small cave that the camp was in was also silent, no one else seemed to be nearby. It was quiet, almost too quiet. MAGES glanced at the two makeshift tents that she and her travelling companion, Brian the Shadow Walker, had assembled in the small mouth of the cave, suddenly realising that something was wrong.

"Brian? Are you in there?" MAGES asked as she got off the log she was sitting on and made her way slowly towards the Ancient's makeshift tent, her words were spoken quietly as she neared his little tent. "Brian? Are you awake in there? Hello? Brian?"

The Mad Magician pulled the makeshift tent 'door' open and glanced inside, expecting to see the young man in his bedroll and asleep for the first time in days, instead she was greeted by nothing. MAGES narrowed her eyes and sighed in annoyance. _Dammit, Brian, just where the hell are you?_ MAGES thought as she walked over to the mouth of the small cave, once she stepped outside the Mad Magician gazed at the rocky tree filled area around her, the mountains of Lastation – known as the Black Mountains due to the nickname of the steam-punk nation: the Land of Black Regality. Despite the name the Black Mountains were not black, at least not completely, a small portion were black due to some old attacks by Ancient Dragons hundreds of years ago during the reign of Minerva, the founder and first CPU of Lastation. The scarring of the landscape had never been truly healed, nor was it expected to be completely healed, according to Histoire's studies at least.

The Mad Magician sighed as her gaze was met with only the darkness and bright stars of the night around her, everything did seem calm but something did not just seem right; she could feel it, the hair on her body was standing on end. "I don't know what is out there in the darkness, but something is going on out there that's involving magic, and I don't like it. Heh, the only time I could use Brian's advice and he happens to ditch me. I wonder, is Brian the cause of this unsteadiness that I can sense? Probably, though it's hard to ascertain whether he's the cause. Guess I'll just stay here and wait for him, probably better to do that than go out there. I'll give him thirty minutes before I go on a search, that should be enough time for him to get back."

As MAGES returned to her log to sit down in front of the fire she began to think about the events that had occurred ever since her and Brian's run in with the Spartans back in the northern grasslands of Leanbox. It was a messy affair after the small skirmish between Brian, MAGES and the three Spartans, in fact the Mad Magician felt a large amount of guilt for not saving two of the Spartans from their deathly demise at the hands of a zealously mad Shadow Walker; she did take some pride on managing to avoid a third death though, although she wished that it had never come to that in the first place. After the fight ended both Brian and MAGES had packed up their belongings as fast as they could and swiftly made their way northwards towards the coast, always looking over their backs, always on the move without a break. To their surprise, at least to MAGES' surprise, no one came after them, although if anyone did then they had no idea where the two fugitives were. After hours of tracking through the wild of northern Leanbox, Brian and MAGES came across what looked like a ferry that transported people across the channel between Leanbox and the mainland of Gamindustri.

It did not take long for the two of them to take control of the place, mostly because it was not the main ferry location for people to cross since Hero City had that honour, not only that but it was also undermanned and occupied by only one Spartan; the rest most likely ran off to find Brian and MAGES. Once the small ferry harbour was under their control when the Spartan was rendered unconscious – the Mad Magician was rather cynical with the Ancient Emperor's method of slaughtering anyone who stood in his way and constantly reminding the young man about what would Blanc do – the two of them stole a small sailing boat and set their course for the southern coast of Lastation; when asked by MAGES why they could not just sail all the way to Lowee she was surprised to know that Brian did not like sailing in the sea, in fact he would get seasick if he stayed on a boat for too long.

What was confusing for MAGES was why Brian decided to journey through Lastation to reach Lowee instead of just travelling through Planeptune, the Land of Purple Progress had a much straighter path towards the capital of the Land of White Serenity. The answer she received was quite surprising. It turned out that Brian refused to travel through Planeptune was because of a sentence of exile that Neptune had placed upon him, meaning he could not enter the Land of Purple Progress under or else, although the Ancient did not that it was something he disregarded from time to time. The second reason made more sense to MAGES. The other reason was because of the lower rate of monster activity in Lastation, meaning that there would be less people on the roads and in the wild that could spot them, making their journey much more safer. It was a surprisingly well thought out plan, considering that Brian was missing a few mental screws in the sanity department from what MAGES could gather.

 _Let's just hope that this plan to get to Lowee by passing along the far more safer route through Lastation pays off, and that we don't encounter any trouble along the way. Still, I just hope to get through this adventure in one piece, I'm starting to think that I got a lot more out of this than I bargained for._ MAGES thought to herself as she prodded the fire with a long, thick stick that she had procured some time ago when they first set up the camp. The blue haired woman glanced back at the mouth of the small cave, the thin trail of smoke escaped the small campfire and left through the mouth of the cave, she sighed and shook her head. _Just another twenty minutes before I have to go out and find that mad Ancient, I just hope that he isn't, or hasn't for that matter, done anything stupid. If he has then goddesses save us all._

* * *

Water rushed down in a hurried state down the worn-out rock, falling down into a large pool a mile below, the water splashed around and landed all over the smooth and jagged rock that were all over the large pond. The pool was deep and filled with jagged rocks at the bottom, the water was dark and devoid of life, the nearby trees were as solid as rocks, save for the few twigs that did shudder about. The trees, ancient in appearance and age, knew what was coming: darkness incarnate was coming towards the pool, they could feel his approach through the roots of the world. And indeed darkness did approach. As the trees shuddered a man approached the waterfall in a slow pace, his eyes stared sternly at the rushing water before he looked over to his right to see a small stream flowing away from the waterfall pond, its destination was unknown to the young man, but he did not seem to care much about it, instead he continued his way up to the edge of the pond and stood still before the young man looked at his reflection. The young man's eyes were brown, a steel helmet with a strange phoenix-like design was worn on his head, covering his neck length hair was also happened to be brown, his expression was full of fatigue and negative emotions, the chainmail sleeves on his leather armour shined in the moonlight, as did the water. The dark purple blade on the young man's back shimmered with dark and corrupted energy.

The Ancient did not utter a single word or a noise, instead the young man removed his helmet and placed it next to him as he sat down with his legs crossed, his gaze continuously directed at the waterfall-made pond in front of him for a short while before he closed his eyes. The young man breathed in and out deeply, doing his best to calm down his badly damaged nerves, but it was to little avail to his troubled and conflicted mind. Brian continued to breath in and out, this time in a more hurried state, the nerves in his arms and hands started to break down and twitch as they would always do whenever something traumatic would come back to haunt him. There was always something that traumatised the young man, and it was not only his memories from the last years of the Ancient Era that were haunting him. As Brian's arms and hands began to twitch, almost violently too, his mind began to wander through memories on the verge of extinction. Brian first thought of his time on Earth, how bland it was and how he made friends with Angel Heller, it was definitely an interesting time. When those almost dead memories soon passed Brian's mind began to think about his forced transportation to the Hyperdimension, all at the behest and foresight of Wraith. First came the journey itself, followed by his arrival and his befriending of both IF and Compa, the first people he surprisingly became fast friends with.

 _IF and Compa. Actually, I think it was IF who was the first to befriend me, in her own way. That Guild Agent, the Wind Walker of Gamindustri, always did care for me. A pity that I practically lost contact with her after the battle in Lastation, I always did look up to IF due to how well she performed on the field of battle, I did learn a thing or two from her. Still, it couldn't be help, Victor had just returned into her life, and I wasn't all that surprised to hear that they hooked up some time before I returned to Planeptune with Blanc, Rom and Ram._ Brian thought as he tried to calm his nerves down, but it was of little use.

The young man's eyes shot wide open and his breathing became ragged, his arms were twitching without control, his hands shivered and quaked. Brian did his best to clench his fists and fight off the twitching, but it was of no use to the prophesied Shadow Walker, last of the Ancients. Suddenly a tinge of pain enveloped in the front of his brain, which was soon followed afterwards by a massive headache that thumbed throughout his mind. After Brian rubbed his temples panted for breath, his mind then threw more memories at him. The first few memories were of someone special to him, someone who he loved dearly, someone who was the only person that could possibly contain all his negative emotions and the darkness swelling in his corrupt heart: Blanc, White Heart of Lowee. The little, sandy brown haired, blue eyed, bookworm Goddess of White Serenity meant everything to Brian. Images of her brooding, monotone expression and her small smile that always made the young man blush uncontrollably flooded his thoughts, then came memories of events that they did together and spent time with one another, from dates to completing Guild quests and even reading a book together while sitting on the same chair with Blanc on Brian's lap.

"Blanc…" Brian muttered as he pictured an image of his book-loving, CPU girlfriend; at least he still believed that he and Blanc were still in a relationship, it was hard to tell since the young man had not even been in touch with her for a year. Then, just as soon as Brian began to smile at the fond memories he remembered creating with Blanc, they swiftly went away and were replaced with memories of bad dreams and actual events.

The image of Blanc and Brian sitting together on a comfy white chair was replaced by darkness, then out of the darkness came small buildings of stone, brick and wood, all were in fire. People were screaming, buildings collapsing, blood was splattered everywhere, fire consumed all in its path, both living and inanimate. The young man himself was standing amidst the crumbling ruins, the fleeing people, the raging fire, the pools of blood, it all surrounded him. Brian swiftly glanced around the scene in a frenzied manner, his eyes darting from area to area, glancing over people both alive and dead, the fire that flickered in a deathly way, the buildings that were torn asunder. Not far away was what looked like the destroyed ruins of a shrine; a red mist surrounded it for a moment before disappearing. Brian remembered what was going on, he had been trying to avoid remembering it for a while now, but it always came back to him. It was the same nightmare he would have every few nights a week. Brian had fallen asleep due to fatigue not long ago during one of his headaches, most likely before he started to remember everything with Blanc or just after he had remembered them reading together.

The Ancient knew what was going to happen next, it was his dream after all, yet there was nothing he could do about it, and Brian knew it. However, it was different this time, this time Brian was a member of the defenders, or more specifically one of the people who were being slaughtered. All of a sudden a figure emerged out of the fire, bloodied all over, a sinister and evil grin was adorning the man's face, the dark purple sword he held in his right hand was dripping with fresh blood, bright blue energy flared from his eyes and all over his lightly armoured body. Brian knew that psychotic, murdering man anywhere: it was himself. The nightmare was about the events that occurred during the Massacre of Haruno Village, the very same event that scarred Gamindustri, the people, the Goddesses, and the perpetrator himself. Brian locked eyes with his other self, who promptly glared back at him; eyes of fear and eyes of hatred. The hate filled Brian, wielding Gehaburn in his right hand, approached the young man with the cursed sword poised in front of him, ready to strike. It was just as Brian had once thought: two personalities, one light, one dark.

The hate filled Brian, the dark persona, grabbed his other self, the dreaming Brian or the light persona, by the right shoulder and plunged Gehaburn into his chest, the dark purple blade went straight through the young man's chest and out the other side through his spine, blood began to run down the mortal wounds as well as his mouth. Even though it was a dream it felt real, almost too real for the young man. As soon as the light side Brian collapsed onto the ground he saw the dream, at least he presumed it was a dream, start to darken around him, blocking off his vision of Haruno Village and the people within. When the darkness finally enveloped Brian's vision, the young man found himself falling into a void, a pit of shadow. He did not know if he was still awake or was asleep, but everything felt real, yet it also did not at the same time; a rather troubling conundrum the young man realised.

* * *

When Brian's vision returned to him he could only see darkness, nothing other than pitch black filled his eyesight. Was it another dream? Was it another vision? The Shadow Walker did not know, he had never been in a situation like this in his mind before, nor had he expected to be in one at all. The young man looked around to see if anything had shown up, yet there was nothing new to see, save for himself. Brian looked down at himself to see his arms, legs and overall body being in a warped-like state, as if he was a ghost, a spirit that roamed throughout his own mind. It was clear to the Ancient that he was not awake, he was most likely in some sort of deep sleep due to fatigue. The young man grumbled to himself as he rubbed the upper bridge of his nose, frustration and even a little bit of fear starting to flow through him.

"Just where the hell am I? I never been here in my mind before," Brian asked himself as he roamed around on the spot. Just then he could feel something, or rather someone, approach him, and it was someone he knew well, at least he presumed he knew the newcomer well anyway. The young man turned around multiple times, trying to find and look to see who was coming his way, yet there was nothing to see but the empty space around him. "Come on out already, I haven't got all day to deal with this."

"So you say, with all of the dignity of a piece of shit," a distant and harsh voice called out from the darkness in all directions. The Ancient glanced around himself in all directions, yet he could not find the source of the voice. The harsh voice, now sporting an almost familiar accent, spoke again, this time the distance between it and Brian was closer. "Can't see me? It doesn't matter if you can or cannot see me, in the end it does not matter to me."

"Well it matters to me. Who the hell are you?" Brian asked, his nervousness starting to kick in.

"You truly do not know? Heh, figures. I have been with you ever since you were born, I am a part of you, I am what you once were, I am the _true_ you." The voice was close to Brian, very close, and it was starting to get to the young man's fear. The distorted voice, somehow sensing this, chuckled malevolently as it manoeuvred around the Shadow Walker. "Fear, I can sense it, you reek of it, False Me. You fear me, and so you should. Everyone fears a Shadow Walker as well as hate them, that is something that you forgot though."

"Why call me that? And what do you mean by forgetting about what everyone thinks of a Shadow Walker? Wait a minute, are you-" Brian was about to ask when suddenly he felt someone tap him on the left shoulder, he turned around to see none other than himself, only more malevolent in appearance and a lot more wicked. Brian stared at his other self, unable to help himself from fearing this other side to him as dark purple energy flickered around him. "You're me, the other personality, the one filled with hatred and all that."

The other Brian, the dark persona, chuckled wickedly as he walked slowly around the young man. He too was mildly distorted and warped, as if he was a ghost as well; parts of him flickered like flame in the wind. But what stood out most about the dark Brian was the dark purple energy that would glow around his body and in his eyes. "It's too simplistic to categorise everything with 'light' and 'dark', Brian. Instead, you should be more open-minded about such matters, that is what you were taught by your adoptive parents and the people of Gamindustri. Am I not right?"

"But why address us as two separate entities then? If you're so ''open-minded' as you claim to be, and wish me to be, then you're obviously contradicting yourself," the Ancient retorted, much to the annoyance of his other self.

"Shut it, you damn son of a whore, I don't need you to be telling me what's wrong and what's right," the dark persona snarled as his stared at Brian face-to-face, their noses within millimetres of each other. Soon enough though the dark Brian drew back and glared at the young man as he began to walk slowly around him again. "Hmph. You are pathetic, and to think that people actually like, or liked, you."

"What's up with you? Why so harsh? Also, why are we even talking? I had no idea that two personalities could even have a conversation like this," Brian asked as his gaze followed his darker self.

The dark persona of Brian's mind continued to walk slowly around the young man's light persona, who was basically Brian himself, arms behind his back as he stared at his other self with a stern gaze before answering the questions. "All I wanted to do was chat with the false version of me is all, no need to be harsh and all, that's my job. Jeez, and you're supposed to be the 'light persona'? Tch. I hate all of this personality crap anyway, we're practically two separate people anyway."

Brian, being identified as the light persona at least by his darker self, was feeling mixed emotions as he listened to his darker self ramble on and on, but there was one thing that the light persona wanted to know. "Why are you refering to me as the false version? We're both just two personalities inside one mind, so what's with all of this falsity and me that you're spluttering about?"

The dark persona, glittering in dark purple energy, sniggered in a malevolent way. "Do you truly not know? Heh, it seems that I inherited the brains as well as the ambitious drive, the memories and true power of a Shadow Walker who has embraced the darkness of the cursed blade. You see, Brian, I am the _true_ you. I am what you are supposed to be, I am what a Shadow Walker is supposed to be. While Haruno Village burnt and everyone was slaughtered you internally wept, while I laughed for all the world to hear. I am your hatred, your anger, your overall suffering and negative emotions combined into a single entity: your dark persona, a you would say. Whenever you feel anger and absolute hatred for all things, what you are feeling is me taking control over your senses, your feelings, your emotions."

The young man shook his head before rubbing the sides of his head in confusion, he was barely able to process what he was hearing through his mind. What his other self was explaining sounded just too damn weird and off for him, yet is also started to make a little bit of sense to him as well, although only a bit. However, it all just felt wrong to him. There were also a few things that just did not make sense to him. "But why do you still refer to me as the false one? What the hell are you trying to say?" Brian asked, his confusion worsening by the minutes, as was his fear. The light persona, Brian himself, recognised where this fear was coming from. Gehaburn. The cursed sword of the Ancients was causing him to fear his other personality all because the dark version of himself had the power of Gehaburn flowing through him.

At any rate, the dark persona continued to walk slowly around the young man, his wicked grin refusing to leave his face as he began to explain everything he believed in. "I keep trying to tell you, you dense headed idiot. You are the false Brian because I am the original personality, the original Brian. Although, my – excuse me, our – original name was never 'Brian', that was given to us by that dimension travelling God of Time and adopted by everyone else, including yourself. All the while I became more and more separated, more and more distant from you, until I was merely pieces of emotions that I was suffering under when my race was annihilated, when Claudia was murdered, when we were forced into another dimension where we were adopted by ungrateful parents."

"True, I have suffered quite a bit with my past – our past if you want to be technical – when it comes to matters concerning the war between the Pure Ancients, the Lesser Ancients, the humans and the first CPU of all, Kurome. We were born during a time of total war, a time where the Pure Ancients, the true Ancients of old, were dying out in packs. You remember Claudia the Lesser Ancient, the only other child aside us in that village in modern Planeptune, right? You should, seeing how she literally sacrificed her life to save us from Kurome. I remember her well. How we played together, how we looked out for each other, how I cared for her, how I… I… liked her. All of these I remembered while you forgot," the dark persona continued as the vision around him and Brian began to brighten up ever so slightly, his tone growing ever so slightly more harsher.

"So, you're angry at me for forgetting our past? That wasn't my fault, Wraith was the one who wiped my – our – memory for safety reasons," Brian retorted back, still rather confused as to why his darker self was arguing about memories of traumatic past events – as much as the young man did care about the past he knew that he had to put it behind him, Blanc had done her best to drill it into him. "Also, if you're the real Brian, or whatever, then what am I supposed to be? Has my whole life been a lie?"

The dark persona shook his head. "No, no that isn't it. You see, you and I are the same person, at least we once were, until Gehaburn came into our possession. Now, though, things are different, now we are not merely simply different personalities, we are becoming different minds within one body."

"And how will that work out?" Brian asked with a concerned tone. "I doubt it would work, having to personalities is hard enough, but having one of those personalities go rogue and become a separate mind is… it's just ridiculous! You can't do that!"

The other Brian stopped walking and stood in front of the young man, his face was close to Brian's, making the lighter personality feel a little bit more than awkward. Eventually the darker side stepped back and raised an eyebrow at his lighter self before chuckling. "Heh, it'll be fine. Well, fine for me at least, you might find it… less so." Just then the darker self turned around quickly and swiftly gazed at the brightening darkness around them. He appeared on edge and alert, as if there was something coming towards their sleeping body. The dark persona growled almost silently, ruffled his brown hair and began to walk into the only pitch black part of the darkness that surrounded him and Brian.

As the dark personality began to disappear into the darkness, his body flowing apart into separated mists, he stopped and turned around once he heard Brian shout out to him. The young man was also starting to disappear into nothing as he felt his conscious start to wake up, but there was still many things that he wanted to ask his other, and more unstable, self. "Hold on a moment! I've still got lots of questions to ask you! For a start, what do you call yourself?"

The dark persona glanced sternly at his lighter self, refusing to say anything for a good minute before his and Brian's vision began to fade, then he replied to the young man's question. "Call me by the name we were given to at birth by our Ancient mother and father, the name that we grew up with, the name that Claudia called us, the name that literally translates to 'Darkness'. Call me Afagddu. Afagddu Shadowrath. The last, true Shadow Walker and Emperor of the Ancients. In time you shall call yourself that name once again, whether through your own diminishing mind or my influence. Gamindustri will know true suffering as the world is cleansed for the greater good, just as it should have been two thousand years ago. They will all pay for the genocide of my people, they all will." Then he was gone, and so had Brian, who had begun to return to his conscious state.

* * *

"Urgh… that was a lot to take in, and to handle as well," Brian grumbled to himself as he began to wake up and sit up, his eyesight foggy and clouded. The Ancient was lying on the ground with his head near the waterfall pond, his helmet was still in the same spot as before, but Gehaburn had been unstrapped from the young man's back and was now embedded in the rocky ground next to him, the blade glowed dimly with unnatural dark purple energy. "Just what the hell is he planning to do anyway? Tch. Now I'm going to be worrying about this for the rest of the journey. I just hope Blanc can help me once I get to her."

"Help you with what, Shadow Walker?" A stern and prideful voice asked from behind the young man. Brian turned around in the spot to see a woman with flowing silver hair, piercing green eyes with power symbol pupils in each eye and a stern yet sad expression adorned her face which hid a prideful look underneath. She was wearing a long black dress that mildly showed off her curves and her large C-cup breasts, around this she was wearing black padded combat armour around her arms, legs and upper body. Her entire figure glittered in the moonlight as her form wavered about in a bright blue energy before assembling itself again. When she looked at Brian the strange woman did not smile, instead she seemed to be more distant with her expressions towards the young man before her.

Brian recognised who the woman was: it was Minerva, former CPU and founder of Lastation. The Ancient sighed in relief, knowing that the person that Afagddu was sensing happened to be the ghostly former CPU of Black Regality, although why she was here was another matter entirely. "Hello there, Minerva, it's interesting to see you here of all places, though considering that I'm in Lastationite territory I guess I shouldn't be all too surprised. So, what are you doing all the way out here in the wild?"

"Watching over my nation of course, which means I have to keep tabs on you whenever you decide to come through my land, er, previously ruled land. I've been doing that for about a year now, always keeping an eye on you from afar, making sure that you didn't do anything stupid again." Minerva sighed deeply and sat down on a flattened rock, her gaze always upon the young man. "Anyway, what was going on with you just before? You were writhing around in your sleep while mumbling something about 'Afagddu Shadowrath', 'cleansing Gamindustri' and a whole bunch of other gibberish that I couldn't fully make out. What's up with that, if you care to explain it to me that is?"

The brown haired Ancient sighed as he brushed aside the bangs above his forehead, his gaze falling straight onto the ghostly CPU's face. "Well, even though I don't like the idea of sharing my troubles with anyone, I suppose a fresh mind wouldn't be too bad, I guess so anyway." The Ancient rubbed the sides of his head to relax himself from all the different feelings and emotions that bubbled in his mind, making it difficult for him to think properly. There were many topics that confused him, or just plainly made him wonder about himself and his other persona, who was possibly more powerful than himself. Brian decided to start off with an obvious problem he was facing. "Listen, have you ever heard of Multiple Personality Disorder?"

Minerva nodded. "I have indeed, dealt with a few cases concerning it when I was alive. Old on, are you saying that you are suffering from it?"

The young man shrugged half-heartedly. "I guess I am, although I'd prefer an actual doctor to diagnose me with it, not to do it myself. I'd say that I haven't completely got it, but it's something lie that. There's two personalities that vie for control: myself, who everyone calls Brian, and the other, who calls himself by my – our – original name, Afagddu Shadowrath. Things between him and me just got… complicated."

"What a strange name for an alternate personality," Minerva mumbled in response as she scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Is there some sort of reason for that weird name?"

"There is a reason for it, but I don't want to go into it," Brian replied, his gaze fell towards Gehaburn, which glimmered brightly in corrupting dark purple energy. The young man sighed once again as he looked back at the silver haired ghost. "Sorry, Minerva, but I just don't feel to comfortable talking about it. Maybe having a fresh mind trying to help me wasn't the best idea after all."

Minerva raised an eyebrow, never saying a word or even uttering a sound in the Ancient's general direction, never blinking and never moving. Then, after what seemed like a short while of silence and staring, Minerva spoke sternly with a single question. "Was this 'Afagddu Shadowrath' ultimately responsible for the Haruno Village Massacre?"

At first the young man stuttered uncontrollably, his hands began to twitch and his gaze once again moved away from the ghostly goddess before him. He seemed nervous, almost uncertain about the answer. Eventually he spoke. "I-I guess so, he did say that he laughed when H-Haruno Village was burning while I wept. Afagddu has control over all of my negative emotions, so when I become too angry and filled with bloodlust I just… I just lose control and he takes over my mind, making me do… unspeakable acts of genocide. I know it's wrong to just blame my dark persona for all that happened, but I just… lost control." Brian placed his hands over his face and groaned audibly. "I hate myself for what I have done. I don't deserve happiness, I don't deserve friends for loved ones, I don't deserve Blanc. I'm nothing but a monster."

As tears began to form around the corners of Brian's eyes, his hatred for himself starting to grow, Minerva stared at the young man with pity. What surprised the Shadow Walker most was when the former goddess got off the rock she was sitting on and patted the young man on his left shoulder, a small smile upon her face. When Minerva spoke her tone indicated how sad she was, and how much pain she was in from remembering all that the undead CPU had to tell Brian. "You aren't alone in feeling like that, Shadow Walker, I know what it's like to cut innocent lives short. Around two and a half centuries ago I was fighting off a horde of bloodthirsty monsters who were assaulting a small town, I managed to drive them off but not before using Darkside against some oversized beasts, but I had spent too long using Darkside, far too long. I… turned into a monster from all of the corruption that flowed through me, losing all senses, making me a bloodthirsty beast that turned into more of a threat to the townspeople that the attackers. After slaughtering them I was faced against the other three CPUs: Uranus, Venus and Bellona. I… killed Venus and Bellona, but not before I was practically on my deathbed. Uranus died of her wounds not long afterwards."

Brian sat in silence as he listened to Minerva's sad tale, relating herself to the young man's past crime. It was definitely a sad story, one filled with regret and misery, especially since the unfortunate former CPU of Lastation had been forced to live in a state of ghostly undeath for the past two and a half centuries. The young man sighed sadly and stared at the ghostly woman before him. "I'm… sorry to hear that you went through all of that, and not even be able to right the wrongs you did. I… don't really know what to feel aside from pity."

Minerva smiled at Brian again as she withdrew from him. "Yeah, I understand what you mean by that. However, there is one thing you should be aware of. A long time ago a friend of mine once told me that even the most wicked of people, the most debased and the forcibly corrupt can be redeemed, no matter who they are or what they have done. I believe you can be redeemed, despite what you have committed."

Those words alone were enough to brighten Brian's night. He stopped weeping and wiped the tears away before placing his full attention upon Minerva, who was silently glad to see the young man start to brighten up. "Who was the one to tell you that? Uranus?" Brian asked.

Minerva shook her head. "No, surprisingly it was the Mechanist, who you call Wraith. I was training him about the use of Darkside one day when he taught me that vital lesson. I just wish I'm able to redeem myself so I can stop feeling all of this guilt that I've built up. Do your beast to make it to Lowee intact while doing your best to redeem yourself, and without any casualties. Let the people of that frozen nation judge you before the rest of Gamindustri does." As Minerva stood up and began to walk away she swiftly stopped and glanced back at Brian, intent to inform him of one more thing. "By the way, on my way here to see you I saw some unsavoury characters down on a dirt track in the nearby wilderness, they were, or still are, holding someone familiar hostage, at least I think they are familiar. It isn't much, but you should save her from those people, it might give you some confidence again and help you in your struggle against your dark personality, maybe she could even be a potential ally."

The young man seemed hesitant at first, unsure as to whether go along with the plan or not, so instead he chose to ask a question or two. "Hold on, how is this captive familiar to you? You've seen her before? Also, who are her captors? Would like to know all of this before making a rash decision."

The ghostly, silver haired CPU hummed to herself for a short moment before answering Brian's two questions. "Well, I'm fairly sure I've seen this woman before, though it could have been over a year or two since I witnessed her do something, or someone similar to her in looks do some mass destruction in Planeptune. As for her captors, they all look like common folk in some combat armour, most likely members from the Lastation Guild. If you do choose to go out there, please try to keep yourself from slaughtering them, I don't want to tell Bellona that you've become a mass murderer again; that warlike goddess was already having trouble with what you did in Haruno Village, considering that she thinks of you as a son-like figure and has been rather protective of you, from a distance of course."

"Heh, I thought someone was watching me from afar, glad to know it was Bellona all this time," Brian chuckled, amused with how the undead, former CPU of Lowee viewed him as, despite all that he had committed. "I'll see what I can do, and I'll try not to kill anyone, but just… please understand that if it happens, it happens. I'm… sorry in advance if I kill more people, sometimes I might just not be able to keep my bloodlust down."

"I know. Good luck to you, Brian the Shadow Walker, you will need it." Minerva then turned around and disappeared into the darkness, her shadowy form disappearing as the moonlight gazed through her.

Brian watched as Minerva disappeared into bright blue energy and saw the energy dissipate into the cool, late night air. Once she had fully disappeared the young man stood up, put his helmet back on his head and glanced at Gehaburn, the whispers of the souls that the cursed sword had claimed over the last three to four thousand years began to fill his mind, cursing him, offering promises of untold riches and glory, all while they began to break apart his fragile mind. Brian stared sadly at the cursed blade and reached out to it, grabbing it by the handle, feeling the corrupted energy flowing through him once again. "Once it takes hold of us, it never lets go," he mumbled to himself as he strapped the dark purple blade onto his back and made his way back to the camp, hooping to explain his disappearance to MAGES quickly before setting off to find the band of people that Minerva encountered.

* * *

"So, are these the people that you 'discovered'?" MAGES asked Brian in an unconvinced tone as she and the young man hid behind a small cluster of trees.

Out in the open along the dirt track there were five people clad in dark combat armour and a small number of weapons, two of the group appeared to have been carrying laser rifles while another was juggling a plasma grenade – plasma grenades as a whole were rare and the only few who manufactured them belonged to companies in Lastation, although Leanbox and Planeptune had begun to open their doors to plasma and laser weapon companies into their nations, Lowee still had their plasma rifles imported. Another interesting thing was that each of the five people had some sort of red symbol on them, a circle with ten spiked points all around it. The five dangerous figures were surrounding a woman with pale-silvery blue hair that flowed down her back and forehead, light blue eyes, fair skin and an overly worried expression adorned her face. She was wearing a black business suit-like attire with white accessories and blue lining, a white collared undershirt, black and white shoulder attachments with blue lining, a black tie, long white boots that passed her knees, black leggings and a loose white belt with a skull on it wrapped around her waist, a pair of glasses were worn in front of her eyes. The strange woman was handcuffed around the wrists by some sort of magical energy.

Brian nodded, his grip on Gehanburn tightening. "Yeah, they're the ones," he said firmly, knowing that this was the group that Minerva had informed him about a short while back. "Do you think we should interfere with this? Wouldn't mind getting into a fight, been a while since we were last in one."

MAGES shrugged. "Maybe. I don't like the look of those five down there, plus it looks like that woman has been subjected to some physical abuse, so I think it is best to intervene and free her."

The young man nodded, an unnatural grin formed across his face. "Alright then, let's get to it, let's save that strange-looking woman."

Brian and MAGES began to sneak through the undergrowth and approach the small band of soldiers, listening to what they were saying, although not everything they did say made sense. However, some conversations did make sense to the two fugitives. "Why the hell does the boss want this woman for? She don't look like much," one of the soldiers grumbled audibly to his four companions.

"Ah quit yer bellyaching," a woman responded harshly, the cigarette in her mouth almost falling out. "We gotta do what we've been paid for, We're the best of the best in the Lastation Guild, we're the Talon Company, an arm of the Guild. We're better than those Spartans of Leanbox, we're better than even the Wind Walker from Planeptune, we're even stronger than that Shadow Walker as well. So we do what we have to do, and if the boss wants us to free some bimbo from a magically sealed prison then so be it."

"I get that, but why _this_ person? Wasn't she some sort of anti-CPU activist about a year or two ago? If so then why was she in a hidden prison in the middle of nowhere with magical seals surrounding her?" the first soldier questioned once more.

"Why not? I'm not sure who the boss is working for, but apparently they wanted this woman for some reason or another, and I ain't about to question it further than that," the woman replied. It appeared that the blonde soldier with the laser rifle and the cigarette in her mouth was the leader of the group, and was the one who was calling the shots. She nudged the pale-silvery blue haired woman with the end of her laser rifle and began to move her forward. "Come on, we gotta get back to Lastation and deliver the prize to the boss. We do not want to be late again, especially if he's in another one of his moods. Let's get moving already."

The group began to walk onward again, failing to notice the two figures who were shadowing them. Soon enough one of the five Guild members – Talon Company soldiers – was hit across the head by a beam of bright magical energy, sending him flying onto a tree, sending him unconscious. The other four, who were standing close together, were suddenly set upon by their attackers. The mercenaries had not expected the possibility of being ambushed, but if they had then they would not have guessed that their attackers would have been Brian the Shadow Walker and MAGES the Mad Magician. The two attackers rushed out of the bushes, weapons in hand and stern expression upon their faces, neither one stopped as they crashed into the mercenaries.

MAGES swung her staff across the face of one mercenary, sending her to the ground, before swiftly turning around and swiping her long weapon behind another mercenary's knees and tripped him over onto the ground. The Mad Magician jumped back and aimed her staff at the two fallen soldiers. " **Shiver Beam!** " MAGES shouted as multiple beams of magical energy flew from the rune at the top of her black staff and straight into the two mercenaries, sending them hurdling across the rocky ground along with dirt and stone. The attack had finished them off for the rest of the night, and they would regain consciousness in the morning with a very painful headache. However, the Mad Magician look down at her right hand to see blood flow down her skin and drip onto the ground below. MAGES merely shrugged as she wiped the blood away, she did not seem to show much emotion for fuzz towards it. _Must have been one of the two I knocked out before sending them to the ground, most likely that last one I sent to the ground._

Meanwhile Brian had to rush a little further to get to the other two mercenaries, meaning that they had a little extra time to get ready for when he attacked them. The young man clashed his dark purple blade against a mercenary's saberblade, forcing him back roughly before the Ancient headbutted him on the forehead. As the mercenary fell to the ground Brian swung his blade around to slash at the leader of the group, but instead of that happening he was met with the fury of a laser rifle firing at him. The red laser bolt surged from the rifle and straight into Brian's upper right arm, forcing him back in pain, bright blue energy began to flow out from his Share Energy made arm, causing the mercenary to stare in wonder. Realising this, Brian gritted his teeth to endure the pain and charged forward. The blonde haired mercenary of Lastation quickly fired round after round at the young man, watching him block each and every one of them with Gehaburn as he ran towards the soldier.

" **Wraith Blade!** " Brian shouted as Gehaburn began to glow a mixed colour of dark purple and ghostly blue, the cursed sword sliced the laser rifle clean in two, leaving a bewildered mercenary with a smouldering rifle, leaving her wide open for the young man to slash the mercenary across the chest and kick her to the ground, her combat armour broken and blood flowing down the corner of her mouth. The Ancient kept her down with a booted foot and raised Gehaburn above him, a wicked grin adorning his face. As his blade lunged downward towards the writhing woman under him, but as the blade neared the mercenary's face images of Blanc entered his mind, then came Minerva's words. Sweating profoundly and twitching nervously, Brian managed to stop the final death blow and moved off the mercenary, making her look at him with a confused yet worried stare, that was when the young man savagely kicked her across the face, breaking the woman's nose and sending her into a tree.

As Brian withdrew from the unconscious mercenaries, the short skirmish finally over, MAGES approached the young man with the strange, handcuffed woman in tow. "I'm amazed that you didn't kill her. What happened?" the Mad Magician asked with wonder while she attempted to get the magical handcuffs off the previously captured woman.

"I don't know, guess I'm starting to get some control back," Brian replied, yet despite that he could still hear the souls of the dead flow through his mind, and the words of Afagddu came back to him. The young man shook his head to shake the thoughts away as best he could. "So, who's this woman anyway?"

The pale-silvery blue haired woman, once freed from the handcuffs, bowed politely at her two saviours, although it was rather clumsy and her glasses fell off her face, causing her to stutter nervously as she flailed around for them. Once she had regained her composure the woman looked back at Brian and MAGES. "Th-Thank you both for saving me. My name is R-Rei Ryghts, again, thanks for saving me from those mercenaries."

"Rei Ryghts… Rei Ryghts… where have I heard that name before?" Brian muttered as he strapped Gehaburn back onto his back, his Share Energy calming down.

It was MAGES who replied to his question. "I wouldn't be too surprised to hear that, Brian, you were closely associated with the CPUs so they would have told you about this woman at some point. Rei Ryghts was an anti-CPU activist before she became deeply involved with the Eden Crisis, which ended with her imprisonment, but that didn't last too long. If my sources are correct then this woman is also the one who destroyed half of Planeptune City; she is a CPU, a goddess without a name, but one that is nicknamed 'the CPU of Chaos'. Am I right, Rei?"

The former Tarian CPU nodded nervously. "Y-Yes, that's right. S-Sorry for all the trouble!"

Brian sighed and rubbed his temples, realising that Rei's nervous and apologetic nature was going to be a problem if she kept being nervous and worried around the young man and the Mad Magician, not to mention that she was an enemy of the goddesses, or at least a former enemy who had been neutralised for some time. Although, the thought that Rei was a CPU of a deceased nation was of some comfort, but Brian had indeed heard of the CPU of Chaos and the power she held within her maddening mind. _Well, I'm sure Minerva had her reasons to recommend Rei for a potential ally, probably because she's a CPU who could be useful in a fight when needed. Still, a CPU… interesting, she's a CPU who isn't connected to a Sharicite and is still somehow alive. I thought goddess who had been cut off from their Sharicites died within minutes or even within hours, so how is Rei still alive if that's the case?_

MAGES glanced at Brian with a raised eyebrow, wondering what he was thinking about. "Are you all right there, Brian? Who looked a little confused. Wondering about something in that mind of yours?"

The Shadow Walker nodded. "Yeah, sort of anyway." Before he could explain himself both he, MAGES and Rei heard the sounds of people approaching from the north-west, heavy booted feet crunched their way through the undergrowth of the nearby small forest and were swiftly approaching the site.

Rei Ryghts looked over and seemed to grow more nervous than before, she began to back off in Brian's direction. She looked at the young man and tried to hide behind him. "I think there are more mercenaries coming this way, those five did say something about more soldiers joining up at some point, I think that's them coming right now."

"How many?" the young man asked sternly, his gaze falling directly at the woman who was trying to keep herself safe.

"I don't know, but th-they scare me, especially after all the b-beatings that I endured after they set me free before being handcuffed, and after as well," Rei replied, not being too fond of remembering the abuse she was forced to deal with.

MAGES gazed in the direction of the incoming mercenaries, her grip on her black staff tightening, then she spoke her mind. "We should withdraw and continue on with the journey north to Lowee, we'll just have to travel through the night to get away from our enemies."

Brian was not too fond of the idea of retreating and continuing the journey to Lowee, but he knew that it was for the best. With his light personality currently in control he was able to see reason with MAGES words, especially when he thought of the possibilities of what would happen either way. With a reluctant nod he, the Mad Magician and the former CPU of Tari began to withdraw back towards the campsite, although Rei was forced along due to Brian holding her wrist tightly.

Rei seemed flustered at the sudden turn of events, and the tone in her voice indicated that clearly. "Wh-Wha?! Why are you holding my wrist so tightly?" she asked with a yelp. "Also, why are we heading for Lowee of all places?"

"I'll explain the details once we get back to the camp, just keep your cool and keep yourself out of trouble in the meantime," Brian explained as they passed by a few trees and headed straight towards the western base of the Black Mountains. "There was a reason why we met, for this was not chance meeting, just like when I met MAGES back in Hero City. Bur for now just do what we fugitives do best."

"And what is that?"

"Run."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry for the extra wait, but my schedule has been all over the place, plus Writer's Block is a bitch at the worst of times. I've been a bit distracted as of late with other projects, games and reading, not to mention the small bits of university work that I have to do every now and then. The story is slowly advancing forward now with the introduction of Rei Ryghts into Brian's outlaw group; all will become clear eventually. The next chapter will take some time to get through due to other obligations, and due to Writer's Black as usual – I know some bits and pieces for the next chapter and so forth, but others parts will be difficult to come up with at times. But I promise that I'll get it done eventually, I just have other things to do as well. In the meantime, if you have questions or suggestions then do inform me of them and good luck with your day.**


	9. Loweean Rage

**Chapter 9: Loweean Rage**

The furious tapping sounds of fingers against a keyboard was all that could be heard inside the oversized room, that and the occasional snarling and vulgar words that resonated all over the place. The curtains were closed with only a slimmer of light peering through the window, the large room was darkly lit, the only source of light came from a computer screen that was brightly lit. In front of the computer screen was Blanc, the CPU of Lowee herself. The sandy brown haired goddess was typing away furiously like a computer addict, digital words appeared swiftly and were either replaced just as quickly or were moved upwards or even just left where they were while the book-loving goddess continued to type up her and Brian's novel; she was more eager than ever to get the next several chapters done. She stared sternly at the screen, an almost wicked smile formed across her face as let out a light chuckle, a shadow had formed over her upper face and her trademark, bloodthirsty red eye glowed darkly at the screen.

Blanc was in the middle of a fight scene for her and Brian's novel, and it was a little more than bloody. The fight scene was based off the battle where Brian, Angel, Victor and Wraith smashed their way through Severia the Stoic's fortified base to rescue Blanc, Rom, Ram and Mina. The scene was a little different in the novel however, for a start it was not the heroine who had been captured, instead it was the hero himself. The main problem that Blanc faced was that she was getting a little too into it, especially since she had written a few draft chapters in her notebook that concerned some romantic issues, and she was contemplating whether to make it an MA 15+ book or stick with the original rating of M, all because she had a little chat with Vert the other day – who had taken surprising interest in the novel – and suggested some 'steamy scenes'. However, the Loweean CPU seemed to be mildly against it, at least a bit anyway. It was most likely that she felt uncomfortable with writing a lemon scene in her and Brian's novel. But if push came to shove and people wanted things to be 'steamy' in the novel then so be it, whether that meant publishing a smut version of the book at a later date or simply add new chapters to the original would be up to the viewers. If anyone read it of course. Although, if Blanc was writing the novel in her HDD form then her White Heart personality would include a smut scene, possibly several excessive and highly exaggerated sex scenes; it was something that the book-loving goddess was trying to avoid at the moment.

At any rate, Blanc was getting to deeply involved with the fight scene that she was in the middle of typing up on her computer. For some unknown reason that Blanc could not fully understand, or anyone else that she mentioned it to, she was starting to feel a little odd, as if there was someone or something talking to her through her mind. The voice sounded like it was leaving messages for her to listen to, but she just could not make out what they were. The voices sounded distant at times, sometimes it sounded a little clearer yet utterly incomprehensible, as if it was in another language entirely. Blanc had heard it before, it was during a day at R-18 Island when Brian started to recite a piece of non-rhyming poetry called 'The Lay of Bleddyn', the first Ancient, the first Emperor of the Old World, the first Shadow Walker, and Brian's ancestor. Incidentally, some time after their day at R-18 Island Blanc wanted to listen to Brian reciting the piece of poetry again, so he did, after botching it up a few times, although when asked if he knew any other piece of poetry he shook his head with regret.

"Heh. Should I have the heroine gut the machine as if it was a monster, or should she just smash it over the head with her giant mace? Ah, so many possibilities," Blanc muttered to herself as she continued to type up line after line, almost enjoying the battle she was typing up a bit too much; it was her authoring way of getting revenge upon someone who had captured her over a year ago, even though Severia the Dark Captain had been dead for quite some time.

However, since Blanc was a bit too involved with her novel to notice anything around her, she failed to notice someone entering her room and opening her curtains. Once the nearest set of curtains were open, the sunlight from outside finally shining in through the window, did the Loweean Goddess draw her attention away from her computer and notebook to see who had entered her room without permission. To her relieve it was merely Mina, Oracle of Lowee, who had entered the room and let the sunlight in, although the book-loving CPU had not been expecting her at all. "Oh, hello there Mina. I wasn't really expecting you. Was there something you needed, or are you here to merely interrupt me?"

"To see if you can help with the paperwork that I have, as a matter of fact," Mina replied sternly, her eyes staring directly at the small goddess. "I'm being overwhelmed with all the documents and paperwork that I have waiting to be signed in my office, and I need some help."

"Really? You seemed fine about it this morning when I asked you about it," Blanc responded as she swivelled her chair around to face the blue haired Oracle.

Mina raised an eyebrow and sighed, shaking her head with a hint of disappointment or even pity. "Lady Blanc, you do realise that you talked to me about that _yesterday_ morning, right? It's the afternoon at the moment, around two in the afternoon at least." When Blanc appeared a little more than flabbergasted, her expression full of shock, Mina realised that the goddess she worked for had lost track of time. "You did not notice that it has been a day and a half since we last spoke?"

Blanc shook her head and gazed away, a grumpy look appeared across her face. "Tch. Don't you dare rub it in, Mina, I was just preoccupied was all. Besides, if you knew that I was getting too into the novel I'm writing then why didn't you do anything?"

"I thought it was best to not disturb you until needed. Anyway, can you help me, please? There are some documents that need your signature anyway." Mina asked once again.

Blanc sighed and gave her Oracle a small smile as she stood up out of her chair and turned her computer screen off. "All right then, Mina, I'll help you out. Besides, it's been a while since I did any sort of paperwork related job, might as well get it out the way; also could use a break from that computer."

Mina smiled and walked out of Blancs's room with the Loweean Goddess in tow, both entered the hallway and walked down towards the Oracle's office, passing by a guard or two and a few maids who practically kept the entire Basilicom clean to the best of their abilities. Once Blanc and Mina arrived in the Oracle's office the Loweean CPU realised what the blue haired woman had been talking about, the office was filled with all sorts of paperwork. There were documents sprawled all over the desk, the computer screen was filled with all sorts of reports, there were loose pieces of paper lying all over the floor; it was as if a small scale nuclear bomb had detonated in the office. Blanc gazed over at Mina and sighed. "Well, no turning back now. Where should I get started?" the brown haired goddess asked.

Mina walked over to her desk and moved aside some paperwork to reveal two trays, one for signed paperwork and the other for unsigned paperwork; both were filled to the brim with paperwork from the last several weeks and had yet to be filed away. "For a start, I'm going to get some more trays. You can help by making a start on those documents in the unsigned tray," Mina replied as she began to search through her drawers for more trays.

The Loweean CPU nodded in response, sat down on a spare chair and began to clear some space on the desk so she could sign the various amounts of paperwork. What needed to be signed did not appear to be too important, at least to Blanc anyway, yet the Loweean Goddess knew that she needed more Shares, and the sooner she got them the better. With a heavy heart, and no small amount of reluctance, Blanc began to sign away, leaving her signature on many pieces of paper as she moved from document to document. The brown haired CPU had almost forgotten how dull and boring the process was, and made no attempt to hide it. "Urgh, this is boring as hell," Blanc grumbled as she signed yet another document.

"Hmm? Is there something wrong, Lady Blanc?" Mina asked as she returned to her seat with several more trays and began to clear up the paperwork around her and the Loweean Goddess.

Blanc nodded. "Yeah, this whole process is tiring my brain out. How the hell does Noire even manage to do this for almost an entire day, whenever she's not busy fighting monsters, arguing with Neptune, or whenever she isn't cosplaying? That loner is crazy."

The blue haired Oracle chuckled as she filed away some documents. "Some people are just different than others, that's just life I'm afraid. Still, being diligent with work is what makes a CPU so popular, so you can't really blame Lady Noire for being a popular CPU, at least in her own country."

The book-loving goddess grunted with disdain at the mere mention of Noire being a popular goddess, it did not sit too well with Blanc, especially since the recent falling out that the two CPUs had during the one year remembrance anniversary of Haruno Village's destruction. "Hmph. Whatever, Mina, I don't really care about who's the best CPU or the worst. However, don't mention Noire in such a good light around me again. Never. Again."

"O-Oh, right, o-okay then. I-I'm sorry, Lady Blanc," Mina stuttered nervously, not wanting to anger the Loweean CPU any further. The Oracle of Lowee had heard from Rom and Ram about the 'incident' between Blanc and Noire after the Haruno Remembrance Anniversary, from what the Loweean CPU Candidates told her it sounded as if things could have gotten much, much more worse if they had not intervened when they did. Gamindustri was not ready for another Console War, especially when the four nations were still trying to get over the Dark Captain Crisis and Brian the Shadow Walker's slaughter of the people of Haruno Village.

In a way, Brian was ultimately responsible for the lack of faith towards the Goddesses, the turmoil that was starting to plague the four nations, and the bad relations between Blanc and Noire. Mina did not want to believe that the young man wanted all of that to happen, in fact the blue haired Oracle always believed that Brian wanted what was best for Gamindustri, yet he never noticed the damage that he inadvertently inflicted upon it during his 'crusade' against the Dark Lord. When the Ancient finally did realise what he had done it was too late to reverse the damage, the seal had been set, so to speak. Mina had seen the young man's reaction to all the horror that he as unleashed once Blanc had returned to Lowee with him after the Haruno Massacre, the look that adorned his face said all that was needed to be said; Brian knew what he had done, and was grief-stricken. However, ever since Mina learned that the Shadow Walker had returned, and learned that he was with the Mad Magician known as MAGES, the Loweean Oracle had been trying to come up with a solution that could help the young man become accustomed to everyone again, and to make the people of Gamindustri come to like him.

Getting everyone to like Brian seemed out of the question, considering the damage he had done. The two most hostile countries were Planeptune and Lastation, both for very reasonable reasons. Leanbox and Lowee, however, were a little more 'relaxed', in a way, towards the Shadow Walker, mainly because he had not spent too much time in the Land of Green Pastures and because of his acts of heroism in the Land of White Serenity. As Mina filed away more documents into separate trays she sighed out of frustration, her thoughts on trying to come up with a solution to the Brian dilemma was yielding no success. _It sounds impossible, but I know that it can be done, it just has to._ _Sooner or later Lady Blanc is going to figure out that Brian is still out there and is being hunted by bounty hunters, who knows what she will do then._ Mina thought to herself as she moved paperwork around. _However, if Brian can get back to Lowee safely then I might be able to figure out a way to make him more likeable towards the citizens of Lowee, then the rest of Gamindustri._

"Hey, Mina, are you all right? You seem a little frustrated about something," Blanc asked, her eyes set upon her blue haired Oracle.

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah, I'm a little frustrated about all of this paperwork is all," Mina replied, lying in response to Blanc's question. It was not a complete lie though, Mina was a little annoyed with all of the paperwork that had accumulated over her desk, half of it was not even all that important.

"I know what you mean. Now I understand why Neptune hates dealing with matters like this, although I don't hate it personally, it's just distasteful is all," Blanc said with a light-hearted chuckle. "Speaking of Neptune, what's wrong with her? She usually tries to talk to me over the computer or even face-to-face in the Basilicom, yet she hasn't been doing that for the last few days."

Mina sighed and laid down her pen, her eyes stared directly towards Blanc's. "About that, you see… Lady Neptune is missing. So is Lady Nepgear, Lady Plutia, Lady Peashy and Ang- er, Sir Angel. They are all missing."

Blanc raised an eyebrow, not only due to Mina calling Peashy 'Lady' and Angel 'Sir', but also because of the disappearance. "So where have they run off to? Is it another so-called 'adventure game' that Neptune always tries to get us to play in the wild? If that's the case then there's nothing to worry about; let them get lost and then be found by IF. Again."

Mina shook her head. "No, it isn't like that again, Lady Blanc. They have disappeared, as in they are not in this dimension, as far as Lady Histoire is aware of anyway."

This was a surprise to the Loweean Goddess. "In another dimension? Are you sure about that?" When Mina nodded the brown haired CPU sighed and shook her head, refraining herself from sniggering at the missing group's misfortune. "So, is Histoire going to do anything about it, or is she going to leave the situation as it is? As funny as it is for those lot of be transported and trapped in a different dimension, I'm sure Planeptune needs them more than ever, especially when their Shares are so low."

"And there's the problem: Share Energy," Mina said as she moved all the trays that had signed paperwork to the other side of the desk. "Lady Histoire has been trying to find Lady Neptune and the others by using Share Energy to make a connection between our world and whatever world they are in, but is isn't going exactly to plan. Too much Share Energy is being used up to make a connection between her and Lady Neptune." The blue haired Oracle of Lowee sighed deeply and shook her head. "Well, no sense in worrying about it, I'm sure—no, I know that they can handle themselves well enough to survive in any situation."

Blanc chuckled as a small smile formed on her face. "Fair enough, let's get on with this signing and whatnot. Besides, if anyone can survive in any type of dimension and live it would be those lot; they've been through a lot over the past year. Anyway, at least they don't have to deal with anything like the paperwork we've got in front of us. Seriously, you should get a secretary to deal with some of this at some point."

Mina straightened her back and raised an eyebrow in Blanc's direction, causing the brown haired CPU to gaze at her Oracle with a questioning stare. Eventually Mina sighed and shook her head, she let out a light-hearted chuckle as a small smile appeared. "Lady Blanc, you do remember what an Oracle is supposed to be, correct? Essentially I _am_ the secretary, that is what an Oracle is all about, what it is supposed to be about anyway, although personally I do not mind all of the extra work regarding the CPU Candidates here."

"Well, you know what I mean," Blanc grumbled back in response, narrowing her eyes at the blue haired woman sitting in front of her.

"Yes, I do know what you mean. Sometimes, when you are writing your novels, monster hunting or out of the other CPUS, I do need assistance with the amount of work that builds up," Mina chuckled. "Actually, as a matter of fact I was training Brian to be my replacement. I was hoping that if I could train him in the way an Oracle conducts their work he would eventually taken my position while I went back to teaching children at the local school."

Blanc stared at Mina as if the glasses-wearing Oracle was a madwoman for a short moment before cracking up in a light-hearted laugh. "Is that so? Heh, I always wondered why you insisted on Brian as your helper all the time you had some documents to sign and file away, it all makes sense now." The Loweean CPU chuckled and shook her head, an amused look was adorning her face. "Brian as the next Oracle of Lowee, I never would have considered it. I don't know if he would've been amused, happy or confused with the prospect of being in such a position of power. After all, Brian isn't the type to simply sit down all day and sign paperwork or go out to deal with people."

"You speak of him as if he is still out there," Mina said without revealing her knowledge of Brian's return, yet inadvertently causing Blanc to enter a depressed state. As soon as the blue haired Oracle realised this she did her best to calm the situation at hand. "I-I'm sorry if I offended you, Lady Blanc, I didn't mean to question you or anything."

The Loweean CPU sighed sadly and shook her head, yet her gaze never returned to Mina, instead her eyes remained upon the paperwork on the desk before her. "It's alright, Mina, I know it would be hard for you to understand, at least mildly. It's just… I can feel Brian out there, I can feel the faith he placed in me. I know he's out there somewhere in the wilderness of Gamindustri, I can sense it." She then sighed deeply and shook her head. "If Brian ever does come back I hope I can find a way to reintegrate him into society, hopefully without any arguments or protests. While I like the idea of him becoming the next Oracle of Lowee if you are to retire, I don't know if anyone around here will agree to that idea."

"Well then, how about you, Lady Rom and Lady Ram do a few quests? Not only will it make public and silent opinions of you be put into good light, it will also raise your Shares as well," Mina suggested. It did not seem like a bad idea, considering that Lowee was lagging behind with the number of Shares. "I heard that Lady Noire has steadily raising her Shares in Lastation and has managed to raise them by five to ten percent, making her total number of Shares around fifteen to twenty percent, a figure that almost matches her usual Share fro before the Dark Captain Crisis and much higher percentage than all of the other nations put together. I heard her say that Lastation is the greatest nation in all of Gamindustri once again, the other three countries and their CPUs should be ashamed. At least, that's what Lady Noire apparently said."

This seemed to tick Blanc off. Her right eyebrow twitched with seething anger, her expression hide the small amount of rage that was building within. "So, that bimbo of a loner wants to mess with Lowee with words, huh? Well I'll show her, I'm gonna make Lowee great again by getting even more Shares than that cosplaying, twin-tailed asshole! Then I'll be able to convince people to let Brian back into our society once I find him!"

The blue haired Oracle could not help but giggle in amusement, finding it funny that by simply mentioning that Noire had a big ego and more Shares would rile up the Loweean CPU to such an extent. Plus, just listening to Blanc yell about regaining the people's faith so she could convince them to allow the Shadow Walker to become a member of their society made Mina a little optimistic, yet she knew it would take more than simply regaining the trust and faith of the Loweean population for Brian to be reintegrated – if he could be found that is. The Loweean Oracle knew that even if Brian was found and brought back to Lowee they would have to reckon with the rest of Gamindustri, especially Planeptune and Lastation; both countries had the most bounties on the Shadow Walker, and for good reason too. However, there was something that did bother Mina: the Guild. It had been quite a while since Blanc had gone to the Guild for a quest, so she had no idea about the high paying bounties for Brian's head.

 _Hmm, if I could direct Lady Blanc to a specific quest then perhaps I could prevent her from seeing the bounties, other than that all I can hope for is pure luck._ Mina thought as she watched Blanc shake her right fist about, her teeth clenched and a shadow over her enraged eyes. The blue haired and eyed Oracle was now feeling determined to prevent Blanc from seeing the bounties while trying to help her gain Shares by monster slaying. "Excuse me, Lady Blanc, if you wish to raise your Shares to rival Lastation's then I suggest you stick with the monster hunting quests and the fetching quests, last I checked there were a couple of interesting monster hunting missions that could help raise your Shares."

"So do you have the quests or do I have to go to the Guild and find something there?" Blanc asked as she calmed down.

"Hmm, I think I have a list of possible quests to do around here somewhere, I had them printed out just in case," Mina replied as she began to rummage through the shortening layers of paper that were all over the desk. "Ah, there it is. Here."

"Hmm," Blanc hummed thoughtfully as she took the piece of paper and looked at the quest list, gazing at what was available to do. Finally she came across a couple of monster hunting quests that seemed to be good to go out and complete. "Yeah, there are a few on here that have piqued my interest. All right then, I'll go out and complete some of these, maybe I might complete all of them if I can."

"Well, if you are going to go out and complete some missions may I suggest you take Lady Rom and Lady Ram with you? It has been quite a long time since they were last out on a quest, so I think it may be best for them to accompany you on a couple of the quests, both monster hunting and fetch questing. Both of them need to have some extra experience if you wish for them to succeed you one day, that's _if_ you want them to," Mina suggested. That, too, did not seem like a bad idea, the Loweean Goddess had not spent a whole lot of time with her two younger twin sisters for quite a while so the prospect of raising Shares with them sounded excellent.

However, Blanc was personally still sceptical about the prospect of Rom and Ram taking over her position one day; the thought was almost preposterous, yet it was not too unrealistic. Still, thinking about Rom and Ram becoming the patron CPUs of Lowee made Blanc smile. The brown haired goddess chuckled and shook her head in amusement. "Very well then, I'll round up Rom and Ram for a couple of quests. I'll see you later after I do some more of this paperwork, Mina," Blanc said as she continued to sign away at documents that were in front of her, the smile on her face refusing to disappear.

* * *

"So, where're we heading to next, Blanc?" Ram asked her older sister as she, Blanc and Rom walked side-by-side down a road through the cold, snow-clad Loweean wilderness; all three seemed to be in a jubilant mood after completing a few quests already.

"We're going to complete a few more monster hunting quests and raise or Shares again, all those fetching quests that we completed for the last few hours have done a pretty good job but it will take more than that to make us rival Lastation. A lot more," Blanc responded as she gently kicked aside a small pile of snow that was lying in a large pile over the small highway. "The few monster hunting quests that we already did were not too tough for us, so we're going to head over to the south-east border and destroy a few monster-filled lairs that are supposedly littering the small forest and hill region around the area there."

"Well, if it's all the way out there then why are we walking? That's kinda stupid," Ram pointed out.

Blanc sighed, with a hint of annoyance in her tone. "Fine then, all I wanted to do was take a little walk before we transformed and flew there, but since you're already complaining then I guess we'll start flying now." The Loweean CPU was then covered in a bright light as she transformed into White Heart. "Alright then, you two transform and we'll get going. C'mon, quickly now! I'm all fired up!"

As White Heart and the two White Sisters flew into the air and made their way towards the supposed location of the monster lairs, which monsters they were supposed to be they did not yet know, the landscape around them began to change visibly as the three goddesses made their way further towards the south-east. As they neared the border between Lowee and Lastation the snow-clad fields began to roll away to reveal lush, green field and trees with only a little bit of snow around the place, yet there was still a large concentration of snow and ice towards the south due to the location of the Mountain of Hope, the largest mountain in all of Gamindustri. At any rate, the landscape became less Loweean and more Lastationite, although technically the landscape was all the same throughout Gamindustri – except Lowee had more tundra landscapes, Leanbox had more open grass fields, Lastation had a few more mountain ranges and hills while Planeptune had a simply large mountain range and lots of forest landscapes.

It did not take too long for the CPUs of Lowee to reach the area where the monster lairs were supposedly located; the goddesses could fly at very high speeds, thus while it could take a person on foot just about half a day or three quarters of a day to reach the location a CPU could arrive there in just a couple of hours, give or take around three to four or five hours in total at least. White Heart was the first to touch down on the ground, followed swiftly by the White Sisters, Rom and Ram. "Alright then, the monster lairs should be over there. Somewhere," the blue haired, red eyed goddess said as she pointed over towards the east. "Let's head over there and smash up anything that looks like a monster."

"Yahoo! Come on, let's go and smash things up! The one with the most amount of kills is the winner!" Ram shouted in an excited voice. Rom nodded in agreement, her face was lit up with a small smile. White Heart merely chuckled in amusement, finding it funny that the pink haired Candidate was practically issuing a challenge.

"Alright then, let's go hunting," White Heart said with a gleeful look.

The three CPUS of the north began to walk through the mildly snow-clad field and entered the small forest; the trees were spread all over the place, green bushes and shrubbery littered the area, small rocky formations that built up the further south towards the Mountain of Hope it spread. The few monster hunting quests on the list that remained to be completed seemed to be pointing towards the supposed monster lairs near the border region, which was where White Heart and the White Sisters where walking around. Despite the border region looking rather spares and spread out, it still looked like it would be a good place for any sort of monster to hide – except for oversized creatures of course. As White Heart peered through a small cave of a rocky hill, yet there was nothing of interest to see.

"Bah. There's nothing around here, I thought these monsters were supposed to be living in caves or something. Anyway, where the hell are these bastards hiding?" the bright blue haired goddess grumbled as she walked away from the tiny cave. "Oi! Assholes! Come out and fight me! I fuckin' dare ya!"

"Um, big sis, you shouldn't be swearing like that. Big brother wouldn't like that," Rom said in response to White Heart's vulgar outburst.

The patron CPU of Lowee stared at her younger sister and sighed sadly. "Yeah, you're right, Brian would chastise me about it if he did hear me. Anyway, let's keep looking for these damn creatures, they have to be somewhere around here. Hmm, maybe there aren't any lairs, but if there are any it could be just one huge lair."

"Oooh, what about over here?" Ram said as she ran up to a thick area filled with trees. That was when a fernir jumped out of the bushes and leapt at the young Candidate. Ram fell backwards and yelped in surprise and fright. "GGAAAHHHH! THERE'S A CREEPY MONSTER ATTACKING ME!"

"Not for long," White Heart informed her younger sister as she materialised her giant, white and blue lined axe. However, as soon as the axe was in her hands and Ram safely beside her even more fernirs jumped out of hiding and grouped together in front of the Loweean Goddesses, growling and snarling at their new prey. White Heart was not impressed. "Get away from my sisters, you ugly bastards! **Tanzerin Trombe!** "

White Heart rushed forward and swung around with her giant axe, shards of ice and Share Energy flowed from her oversized weapon as she smashed apart the wolf-like monsters. "Come on! Fight me you hairy wolfs! C'mon, just give me a fight already! My blood is boiling for a real battle!"

Rom and Ram materialised their staffs and glared at the fernirs, both were ready to follow in their older sister's footsteps on the battlefield. "Here we go. **Ice Coffin!** " the two CPU Candidates of Lowee shouted as they slammed their staffs into the ground, large shards of rock hard ice spurted forth into several of the fernirs that were closing in on them. The monsters shouted in their animal tongue their pain was obvious to see.

As the group of ferniers died, disappearing into pixels as the wolf-like creatures began to be defeated in large numbers by the goddesses, more fernirs arrived. These were different fernirs, instead of their usual wolf-like size they had a darker shade of fur and larger bodies, not to mention their piercing eyes and sharp fangs. They were ready to kill, and White Heart was more than ready for them. "Heh, finally coming out to play then? Good. Let's get this party started!" the blue haired CPU yelled as she rushed forward and slashed her axe through the head of the closest large fernir, killing instantly. "Ha! Is that all you got, you fleabags?!"

The large fernirs pounced on the three CPUs, moving swiftly around them to dodge their attacks while getting their own strikes in. One fernir slashed their claws across Ram's left arm as she battered away yet another of the wolf-like creatures, she cried out in pain before swinging her staff into the fernir's head, the ice formed into a hammer and crushed the beast's skull. "Take that!" Ram yelled as she finished off the monster. Soon afterwards the pink haired Candidate looked down at her left arm and saw thin strains of blood flowing down arm, staining her elbow length white gloves. "Aww, now I'm bleeding all over my arm; I like this outfit, too."

Just hearing Ram say that made White Heart snap. She was in the middle of fighting a fairly large fernir that stood a little taller than her as well as three other of the wolf-like monsters, her giant axe poised to strike a killer blow against the large creature's head while her left hand was gripped around another monster's throat, choking it to death. When she heard her little sister cry out in pain and saw the blood that dripped down her arm, staining her long white glove and the grass bellow, the Goddess of White Serenity lost her cool. She glared viciously at the fernirs before her as a shadow crossed over her upper face, revealing the bloodlust in her eyes. "You fuckers are gonna die! GRRAHHHH!"

White Heart snapped the neck of the fernir she was holding and threw its corpse into the group in front of her, she then proceeded to smash her axe through the skull of the largest monster before leaping into the middle of the group and start swinging her axe around in circles, slashing and slicing in a bloodthirsty fury. Loweean Rage. It was what the rest of Gamindustri referred to when the CPU of White Serenity lost her cool and entered an almost psychopathic blood rage, never caring for her own defence if it meant that the ones she saw as enemies died by her hands, no matter how messy and bloody it got. And it was not just limited to White Heart herself, while it was not evident that the White Sister possessed such a trait it was clear that some, if not many, people in Lowee had the trait 'Loweean Rage'. Some people, both inside and out side Lowee, said that Brian the Shadow Walker himself had the Loweean Rage within him, some people were reminded of their patron goddess whenever they thought about the Ancient's anger issues – that was the one thing that Loweean found amusing about their goddess's missing boyfriend; the second thing they found amusing about him was that the Ancient moods changes as quickly as their CPU's books get turned down for publication.

"You're all gonna die, and I'm the one to send ya all to hell! **Getter Ravine!** " White Heart shouted as she smashed her axe into the nearest fernir, crushing it completely before a large pillar of ice sprung forth, obliterating all nearby monsters.

But that was not all. White Heart rushed over to her sister's aid and swiftly swung her axe through a fernir's body, yet it did not die. The creature fell over and whimpered in pain as the Loweean Goddess tried to pull her giant weapon out of the dying creature's body, yet it remained stuck. Before she could pull it out a large, dark mattered furred fernir leapt up and pounced towards the CPU of Lowee, ready to jump on her back and tear the back of her neck with its fangs. Yet it never got to do that. As it was about to make contact with White Heart a large yet thin particle of ice flew past the patron CPU and into the fernir's neck, slaying it instantly. As White Heart retrieved her axe and glanced at her saviour she saw that it was Rom who had saved her. The bright blue haired goddess smiled at her younger sister as she patted her head affectionately. "Thanks a lot, Rom, you saved my ass."

Rom appeared to be enjoying the head patting that she was receiving from her older sister. "No problem, Blanc. Oh, I also healed Ram up with my healing magic not long ago, she's all better now," the blue haired Candidate responded with an overly happy tone, excited that her older sister was giving her attention.

"Hey! No fair! I wanna get some head pats for how awesome I was!" Ram exclaimed as she ran up to White Heart.

"Yeah, you did well too, Ram," White Heart chuckled as she slammed her axe into the ground before it disappeared into Share Energy and patted Ram's head with her now free hand. "Both of you did very well today. I'm proud of the two of you, you fought well and you showed excellent teamwork. You're definitely my little sisters."

As Rom and Ram hugged their older sister tightly, both overly happy with the amount of praise they were receiving, a weak and shy voice called out from the bushes nearby. "H-H-Hello? Wh-Who's there?"

White Heart let go of her younger sisters and approached the source of the voice, which was coming from the nearby bushes, and peered around the place to see who it was. To her surprise she was staring at a young boy with blood dripping down the left side of his forehead. The boy had spiky, light bluish-grey hair, emerald eyes and a frightened expression. He was wearing a dirty blue jacket, a rugged white shirt with the Loweean flag imprinted on it, dirtied black pants and dirtied white shoes with grey lining. The boy was sitting on the ground as he looked up at the Loweean Goddess. "L-L-Lady Wh-White Heart?" he asked, surprised to see her there.

"Yeah that 's me. Who are you? Also, what the hell are you doing out here? Didn't you know that there was a monster lair filled with migratory fernirs just here?" White Heart asked, doing her best not to frighten the kid any further. She then looked over to her younger sister and beckoned them over. "Hey, you two, there's a kid here that needs some patchin' up. Use your healing magic on him."

The two CPU Candidates nodded as they ran over, knelt down on either side of the wounded boy and started to heal him with their CPU healing magic. The young boy watched as a bright orange or yellow colour emitted forth from their hands, he could feel himself be healed as the scratch across the left side of his forehead disappeared, but the blood remained to be cleaned up afterwards. "Th-Thanks a lot, Lady Rom and Lady Ram. B-But why are you here?"

"We were here to slay all those feral monsters," Rom replied with a bright smile. "They're all gone now."

"Th-That's good. Did my auntie send you?" the boy asked.

White Heart raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Nope, we were here only to kill the fernirs, that was what the job said, somethin' like that anyway. Wait a moment, were you captured by those bastards?" When the boy nodded the Loweean Goddess sighed, yet she seemed a little relieved nonetheless. "Well, you're safe now, kiddo. We'll drop you off back to wherever you're living before me and my sisters head back home, if you want us to that is."

The boy's face lit up with an overly happy look as he nodded vigorously, tears began to flow down the corners of his eyes. "Thanks a lot, Lady White Heart! Thank you so much!"

The bright blue haired goddess gently picked the scared kid up bridal style, rose into the air and flew towards the north with the White Sisters following close behind. As they flew towards the border town White Heart managed to extract some further information from the young boy. It turned out that the bluish-grey haired kid was trying to imitate his favourite hero, or most likely anti-hero from what White Heart could gather, by trying to fight off the monsters single-handedly and against his aunt's wishes. The boy was staying in the Loweean border town on a holiday with his aunt, who also happened to be the mayor of the town as well. But what interested the Loweean Goddess the most was who the boy thought of as his idol.

"So this person you look up to, who are they?" White Heart asked as the group neared the town.

"You should know him, he's the Shadow Walker," the boy replied, his expression brightening up. "I was hoping that he would've sent me a letter back after all the trouble I went through to send one to him though."

"Wait a moment, is your name Gregory by any chance?" White Heart asked.

The boy nodded. "Yep, my name is Gregory Hotspur, proud citizen of Lowee and a devout follow of you, Lady White Heart." He then beamed a bright and happy smile at the Loweean CPU, who was rather surprised to hear a kid say all of that. That was when Gregory Hotspur asked the blue haired goddess a rather odd question. "Um, Lady White Heart, are you and Brian the Shadow Walker married or something?"

White Heart's eyes shot wide open with shock while the White Sisters could not help but giggle, making their older sister stutter. "Wh-Wh-What kind of q-question is that?! Of course I'm not married to that idiot of mine! I-I mean, sure, I still l-l-love him, but we haven't seen each other for over a year… Wait, why am I even talking to you, a kid, about my love life? Stop asking about it!"

Gregory flinched with shock and gazed away from White Heart to recover his nerve. "I-I-I-I'm s-sorry, L-Lady White Heart, it's just that my aunt said that whenever two people love each other they get married, start wrestling in a bed and make a baby. Th-That's what she said to me."

The Loweean CPU shook her head and sighed depressingly. "You gotta stop listening to your aunt if she's telling you about that kind of stuff." She looked up and saw the town that they were heading towards, it was not far away, a few minutes of extra flying and they would be practically on top of it. "We're almost there, hold on tight." However, thanks to Gregory the thought of her and Brian being married and living together was stuck on her mind, making the red eyed goddess blush at the thought.

Soon enough the Loweean CPUs landed in the centre of the town where many of the townspeople had gathered, wondering what was going on, when they saw Gregory in White Heart's arms they immediately knew what was going on. As they murmured amongst each other, pointing and whispering as they saw Gregory get back onto his feet, the mayor, a short woman with blue hair and a thin figure, ran out of the Town Council Hall and grabbed the young boy in a tight hug. "You idiot! I told you not to go out there and imitate the Shadow Walker again and again," the surprisingly young-looking mayor exclaimed. "Don't you realise hat if your mother ever found out she would kill me? Well, probably not, but still."

The young, Loweean boy started to cry, not out of sadness but out of happiness, as he hugged his aunt tightly. "I-I-I'm sorry, auntie, I promise I won't do it again! I promise! I just wanted to be a hero."

The blue haired woman chuckled in a light-hearted manner and patted her nephew's head. "I know, but you'll have to wait a couple of years until you're old enough before doing something like that." She then turned her attention over to the three CPUs who were standing close by, waiting patiently for whatever was to come. "Thank you for brining my nephew back alive, my sister would have had my hide if he never came back alive. I was about to send in a request for the Guild to handle it, but I'm glad that you got to him first. Thank you three again for saving Gregory from being turned into fernir food. Thank you!"

White Heart was generally surprised when the crowd started to cheer in delight for the CPU's heroism, the senior Loweean Goddess was more used to the shady looks she would get from some of her citizens, but this was different. As the crowd congratulated the three goddesses, cheering their names with genuine smiles on their faces, White Heart could not help but break out in a small smile of her own; things seemed to be getting back to normal, one step at a time. As the bright blue haired CPU rubbed the back of her head, her cheeks flushing red from all the attention that was heaped onto her, she swore that something, or rather someone, she knew too well call out to her, his voice distant and ghostly. _Blanc… help me… Blanc…_

As the voice disappeared from her mind, leaving the CPU baffled, she quickly realised what it was. It was the Shadow Walker calling out to her through her mind, begging for help. _Brian? Is that you? Can you hear me? Where are you? Answer me, dammit!_ White Heart called out through her mind, yet there was no response. _Dammit, Brian, where are you right now? I need you here. Why haven't you come back yet? Why?_

* * *

 **A/N: Loweean Rage. I like to think that just about every Loweean citizen and CPU has that trait somewhere in them, even the nicest of them. Never piss off anyone from Lowee, especially an army of them. Scary...**

 **Sorry for the longer than expected update, things have been a bit hectic over where I am, not to mention that Writer's Block is a pain in the ass and my own attention keep getting distracted by something. The plot is starting to move ahead now, and with what I have in mind for the next chapter the plot is definitely going to be moving forward. Just a heads up, essentially this story is following different story arcs that I keep jumping from chapter to chapter; there'll be the Zero Dimension story arc, the Lowee story arc, the Leanbox story arc, the Lastation story arc, and the Planeptune arc. This will mean that the story will jump from one point to a completely different point at times, which could be a little confusing at first. So, will Blanc regain her Shares and find Brian, or will the Ancient meet his fate differently than expected? You'll just have to wait and see.**

 **Also, I have some lore information regarding the Ancients and the Shadow Walkers on my profile page, it may be updated from time to time if I can adapt some of the lore into written words. Anyway, if you have suggestions or questions please do tell me about it, and have a good day if you can.**


	10. Joining the Hunt

**Chapter 10: Joining the Hunt**

Dark and gloomy, that was what it appeared to be like outside the Basilicom of Planeptune in Historire's eyes. The Tome Fairy of Planeptune was in the middle of singing away paperwork in her office while also looking over various amounts of reports concerning the integrity and overall state of things within Planeptune as well as the regions outside the borders within the other nations, and from what Histoire had read it did not appear to be all that well. While faith in the goddesses appeared to have stopped going lower it was still a cause for high concern, then there were the recent incidents in Leanbox with the Spartans and the unrest that followed in their path, then of course there were the just as mysterious mercenaries known as the Talon Company who had taken residence in Lastation; no one was fully sure who they were led by, but all that was known about them was that they were an arm of the Lastation Guild. The Talon Company were even more ruthless than the Spartans, and rather undisciplined, no to mention rash and overly prideful to the point of complete arrogance. Of course, the other problem was the Lowee Guild, which seemed to be cutting ties with the very nation that made it in the first place. It was a nightmare for Histoire to read over.

What was even more troubling for the little fairy was how she was supposed to handle the state of affairs in Planeptune now that Neptune, Nepgear, Plutia, Angel and Peashy were missing in what she could only presume as another dimension. She had handled tough situations before in the past, but this time it was different, this time there was a chance that they could never come back, especially if she could not make any contact with them. How was the Oracle going to deal with the unrest that was stating to plague Planeptune now that the Goddesses' influence was gone? Histoire did not know. She needed help, she needed advice. But from whom? The Basilicom staff? They numbered only a few guards and cleaners, hardly a group to ask for help concerning the business of government, at least that was how Histoire reasoned it.

Still, it was a lot of work for one person to do alone, yet it was how Historie was handling it all. No help, no advice, nothing. The Tome Fairy had taken all responsibility and burden of running the government of Planeptune upon her small shoulders, and it was starting to wear her out. It was easier to see the dark patches underneath her eyes, the way her handwriting was starting to become sloppy, not to mention the way she would always mumbling tiredly to herself when she thought no one else was around. Some could not decide whether to pity Histoire or to believe that it was her just dessert for ruining a lot of their fun over the previous years; they believed that the blonde haired fairy was too serious for her own good. However, whatever they felt towards the Tome Fairy mattered little to her, she was too occupied with the amount of paperwork that was piled in front of her to care what the rest of the surprisingly small staff thought.

Histoire sighed as she signed away at yet more paperwork, failing to notice that a member of the Planeptune Basilicom staff had entered her office. The staff member was holding a few empty trays that had been used to store pieces of paper whenever they were finished being signed and needed to be filed away, or if they had to be sent to another source such as a business company, the army or another Basilicom. Once the woman had set the trays down onto the desk Histoire finally noticed that there was someone else in the room. "Oh my, I'm sorry that I did not notice you before," Histoire apologised.

The staff member bowed politely and gave the Oracle a smile. "No, it's all right, Lady Histoire. I should have said something when I entered the office," she replied back, brushing aside the orange bangs that flowed down her forehead. "I managed to find some trays that you could use, if you want to use them that is."

"Thank you, but I didn't ask for them in the first place. How did you know that I need them?" Histoire asked after she moved the trays over to where she needed them and began to pile signed paperwork into them.

"Just a simple and easy guess really," the orange haired staff member replied. "You're working incredibly hard on keeping Planeptune afloat with the rest of Gamindustri, and it's starting to show. You look more fatigued than you usually do, you keep mumbling to yourself and you are a lot more dismissive than ever. It's making us staff members worry."

Histoire shook her head in disapproval, apparently she was not too pleased that there were people worrying about her when they could very well just help Planeptune in their own way instead. The Oracle then made that point very clear to the short, orange haired staff member. "You need not worry yourself over what I have to do for Planeptune, it would only make it worse for me. Instead, you should devote the time and energy that you waste worrying for me into something that is worth Planeptune's continuing existence. I refuse to let this country, and Gamindustri as a whole, be consumed into total anarchy and die just because of a few mercenary groups, rogue soldiers, disillusioned guilds and missing CPUs."

"I know, we all know, but… but we can't stop worrying that you're going to kill yourself by overworking. It's already starting to show, and it is only going to get worse now that the peaceful balance of Gamindustri is hanging by a thread on the edge of a knife," the staff member retorted with a stern expression as her crossed her arms underneath her small sized chest. "We all know that something is going on, that there is something or someone behind all of this growing discontent towards the CPUs. A crisis is brewing, we all know that; you haven't been the best at keeping serious topics away from prying ears and eyes."

"Is that so? Well, I have to do whatever I can to ensure that Planeptuen survives, no matter the cost. There is little I can do for the rest of Gamindustri, for my sphere of influence only reaches throughout the Land of Purple Progress. I'm just… I'm just at my wits end." Histoire sighed and shook her head, making it obvious that she was just too tired to do anything else, although that did not seem to kick into her head, instead the fairy Oracle appeared oblivious to the amount of fatigue she was going through.

As Histoire continued on with her work, choosing to remain oblivious as to why the staff were being worry warts towards her, the orange haired woman continued to stand still and observe the small, blonde fairy. It seemed that Histoire had not taken into consideration what the Basilicom staff were worrying about at all, and that made the orange haired woman more than annoyed. Just as she was about to leave the orange haired staff member noticed that Histoire was starting to become more and more tired, eventually the Planeptunian Oracle staggered about atop her tome and mumbled tiredly to herself, then she drew back from the desk and shook her head, rubbing her temples in frustration. "Ugh, this is getting annoying," the Tome Fairy grumbled as she breathed in and out deeply.

"I tried to tell you, Lady Histoire, I really did," the staff member said with a condescending tone, finally pleased that her point had been taken into consideration, although the unamused stare she received from Histoire made it clear that the fairy Oracle did not share the same sort of feeling. "Anyway, why not get some fresh air to clear your mind, then get some rest afterwards? It would do you some good to get outside."

Histoire was not quite sure how to feel about being instructed what to do with her life for the day, it made her feel uncertain about it all, although it made the Oracle of Planeptune think about how it must feel for everyone else when they got berated by her on a daily basis. However, the blonde haired fairy decided to listen to the advice of the highly concerned staff member "Very well then, I suppose I could do with a bit of fresh air. It might help me with some thinking as well, there is some thoughts that I need to think over anyway."

"Hmm? What sort of things, Lady Histoire?" the staff member asked with curiosity.

"Nothing to worry yourself over, that is for certain. I just need some time to myself so I can think over a few important and personal matters. Let's just hope that taking a bit of time off outside will do the trick," Histoire replied as she floated over towards the doorway. She stopped and looked back to the orange haired woman. "It pains me to ask for assistance, but can you and some other members of the staff please sort out the paperwork? It would help me in the long run when I get back to signing them."

The orange haired staff member was delighted that she was being asked to help with the paperwork for once; it made her a bit too happy, which was a bit confusing at first for Histoire, until she realised that most of the work had been hogged by her for quite some time. The woman bowed before the Oracle and gave her a bright smile. "Don't you worry, Lady Histoire, we'll get it sorted out. Try to have a good time outside, and please do ignore any bad comments thrown towards the goddesses, we don't want a scene again."

"I know that well enough, there are several groups of people who are currently against CPU rule due to past events, not to mention all the rallies that have been held by that Abnes person," the Tome Fairy responded before leaving the room. "Farewell for now, I will probably come back with something if I decide to go shopping, which I might – could take my mind of a few things for all I know."

"Very well then. Have a good time, or at least try to anyway." Once the fairy Oracle had floated down the hallway and disappeared into the elevator, the orange haired staff member brushed her bangs aside once more and immediately got to work with sorting out the different paperwork that was littered all over the Oracle's desk, placing the work into separate trays that indicated what was what, although it was rather time consuming and dull. However, sorting out paperwork would be one of the lesser problems that would later come to plague Histoire and the Basilicom staff.

* * *

The day did indeed appear gloomy, not only that but it also felt like it as well. Histoire remembered how much more brighter the city used to be in the past, but considering all that had happened over the last year it was not surprising that the city, and the entire nation, was in a grim state of affairs. The Massacre of Haruno Village, the mildly suppressed rumours of the Shadow Walker's return and finally the disappearance of the CPUs was making the people edgy and, in some cases, unpredictable with their emotions, striking out at anyone and everything in their way. It had not helped the matter that a young-looking woman, who was rumoured to be much older than she looked, was stirring up trouble by holding rallies where she would publicly slander the CPUs for all to hear. Whether anyone believed her was up to debate, although it was clear to everyone that this Abnes person wholeheartedly believed in her own words, and there were some who took it to heart as well.

Histoire floated down the street upon her flying tome, passing by people with only a mere glance every now and then. Not many people wanted to talk to her, the weather was just too grim for them, not to mention that there was a rally being held somewhere a few streets down. From what the Tome Fairy of Planeptune could tell it sounded as if Abnes was running her mouth again, this time it sounded as if it was about Histoire herself who was the subject at hand, the looks from some people made it obvious. The blonde fairy did not seem to mind it, she had been alive for around two thousand years and had been the subject of criticism for just about half that time, as far as she could remember anyway – being alive for a long period of time had made her forget some really important details concerning not only herself, but everything as a whole.

Still, it barely bothered Histoire, so she paid it no heed. Eventually, after a short of simply floating around down the street in an aimless direction, the Tome Fairy found herself outside the Planeptune Mall. As usual the mall was packed full of people in the middle of shopping, dating, eating and goddess knows what else. Histoire gazed into the large structure, watching people pass by. Then a thought came to her mind. _Hmm, there isn't much to do out here, aside from seeing what that boisterous, badly dressed Abnes is up to._ _I think I will do some shopping while I'm here, the Basilicom staff need some supplies, plus if Neptune and the others make it back from_ _wherever they were sent to._ _I hope they are all right and keeping themselves out of trouble_ _as well as trying to find a way back._

Without a second thought Histoire floated into the mall, gazing at the many stores that were located all over the place. There was a small open area around the centre of the mall where people gathered to eat, talk, boast loudly, read books or magazines and just about be as lazy as possible whenever the opportunity would arise. The many shops that occupied the space within the mall itself were of a regular size, which was roughly around the size of a café, and filled with all sort of objects of many shapes and sizes, not to mention the various bright colours that could be found within the stores. Despite the dark weather and all the gloominess that radiated outside, the mall itself appeared to be only mildly effected by how everyone was feeling outside. Inside the giant, multi story complex, the people appeared to have forgotten the gloomy feeling that the others felt, instead they seemed to be more joyful to an extent due to the multiple cafés, clothes stores, pudding stands, mediocre small book stores and general banter. Everything seemed pretty good.

The blonde Tome Fairy wandered – floated to be more accurate – past many of these stores, minding her own business as she gazed inside every now and then, ignoring whatever sort of look people directed towards her. The looks that Histoire received from the people who passed by were mixed, although they never seemed to be hostile of any sort, in fact a lot of the people who passed by appeared to be more sympathetic, in their own way of course. A few nodded a 'hello' to her, others actually greeted her in a respectful way, although there were some people who simply ignored her while there were a few who gave the Oracle of Planeptune a displeased look – the latter was nothing unusual, in fact Histoire had gotten used to it over the last few centuries after making decisions that proved to be not too popular with the citizens of Purple Progress.

Histoire was the oldest entity in all of Gamindustri's history, and she knew how people would think in certain situations, at least she thought she did anyway. Times change and the attitude of people also change along with it. Most of the time a person's attitude and personality would be reminiscent and similar to how the local CPU would think, act and work in certain countries, at least sometimes to an extent. Things were different centuries ago during the rule of Uranus, Minerva, Venus and Bellona, and the attitudes were completely different during the Interregnum – it spanned for many, many years before the four senior goddess of the modern age were born from the people's faith. Personalities and attitudes change constantly whenever a different situation presented itself, Histoire had seen it happen many times, first during the Interregnum and during the Console War. Still, it was something that she was used to.

The Tome Fairy had been alive for a long, long, long time, even longer than the dimension time travelling god known as Wraith. It often made her think about life as a whole, and not in a great way. Histoire tended to not interact with a whole lot of people, most specifically humans who did not work for the Guilds or for the CPUs, mainly because she did not want to get attached to them. Victor the Wind Mage was an exception, but only because she raised him as a child, as were IF, Compa and several others whom had been designated as 'Makers' by the blonde haired Oracle. Even on the street the Tome Fairy would not interact with many people who passed by her, even if they bumped into her on accident. However, that changed after the Planeptunian Oracle bumped into someone as she gazed into a large supermarket, wondering whether if she wanted to get some supplies or not from that store. The immortal Tome Fairy floated towards the large supermarket entrance, which was where she bumped into a person she failed to notice until the last minute. The blonde fairy was almost fall off her tome before she was caught and was placed back onto her floating book of knowledge.

"Thank you for the assistance, Mr…" Histoire attempted to thank the man who she bumped into and helped back onto her tome, yet she felt awkward about not knowing his name. From what she could see, the man had shoulder-length red hair, cold yellow eyes that appeared to glow dimly with red energy every now and then, an unzipped black jacket with a hood, a red shirt, black jeans and black boots, for some reason there was also a mysterious horizontal mark across his neck.

"Er… Bob. Call me Bob. I know it sounds generic, but that's what I call myself," the stranger replied in response to Histoire's question.

The Tome Fairy raised an eyebrow at the strange man, wondering if he was actually being serious, but after a short time she realised that he was. "Well, thank you, Bob. Anyway, I must be off now, I have some shopping to do."

"So do I. Mind if I accompany you? I've got nothing better to do aside from getting some basic supplies." the strange man asked, nodding towards the supermarket beside them.

Histoire raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, confused as to why he was asking to accompany her in the supermarket, and the Planeptunian Oracle decided to make her thought clear. "Um, sir, I was going to go and shop alone, just to make it a lot quicker for myself. Besides, I would most likely bore you to sleep, so I think it would be easier of we both went our separate ways from here on out. I am sorry, but that is simply how I'm feeling right now."

Bob chuckled in a light-hearted manner and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, apparently he seemed to be a little embarrassed, yet there was also sadness in his eyes and a hint of it was in his expression as well. "Well, okay then, Lady Histoire, if you insist. I was just feeling a little lonely and you seemed pretty troubled, so I just… um… yeah, this is starting to get awkward, isn't it?"

The blonde haired fairy nodded, although she could not help but giggle soon afterwards as she saw the strangely odd man become embarrassed, his gaze falling away from the Tome Fairy, his fingers fidgeting. "Nervous? Don't worry, I'm not annoyed with you, so you can clam down, Bob. Hmm… if it makes you feel better then I will accompany you in the supermarket, something tells me that there is more to this chance meeting than meets the eye."

"If you say so, Lady Histoire," Bob replied, regaining his previous stance. Soon enough, both the mysterious Bob and the tired Histoire entered the supermarket together.

It was an odd sight for people to see the Oracle of Planeptune and some random person walk, talk and shop together, they thought that it was nigh impossible for anyone who was not a member of the Basilicom staff, the Guild, a friend of the Goddesses or the Goddesses themselves to have a friendly yet awkward conversation with the immortal Tome Fairy. The two of them seemed to be inseparable from each other as they walked down the various aisles of food, ingredients, sugary treats and all sort of goodies; they were smiling and talking as they went along with their shopping. Histoire felt something that she had not felt for a while: joy. It was a weird feeling for her now, considering everything that had happened over the past year, and now the Planeptunian CPUs were missing as well, leaving only IF and her adopted son Victor to defend the Land of Purple Progress with a small, underdeveloped army and a Guild filled with idealogical people, and not all of them were in the best interest of the nation, much to Histoire's disappointment.

It was when Bob was picking out some cooking spices for whatever he had planned to cook that night that the Tome Fairy Oracle of Planeptune decided to ask what was bothering him, the stranger man did mention that there were some issues that were plaguing his mind. "Excuse me, Bob, may I ask you what has been bothering you?"

The red haired man placed some more spices into his shopping basket and looked back at Histoire, ready to talk about the subject at hand. "Well, it's just everything really. A whole lot has happened over the last year and I don't really know what to believe in any more. It's just been… crazy I guess. I'm afraid about what might happen if the Shadow Walker returns, I'm afraid of all this talk about a change in the way we are ruled thanks to that damn little blonde girl in the pink frilly dress, I'm afraid of all the new breads of monsters that are starting to appear throughout Gamindustri. I'm just afraid of it all. It's that Shadow Walker's fault, if he hadn't gone psychotic and slaughtered Haruno Village we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place."

"So you are with the thought of blaming Brian the Shadow Walker for all the troubles that have plagued Gamindustri?" Histoire asked, her attention now fully focused on the troubled redhead. When Bob nodded while his expression hardened into a grim look, the Tome Fairy sighed and felt guilty for all that had happened over the past year. "I'm… sorry for everything that has happened, I truly am, Bob."

"I know you are, Lady Histoire, I don't doubt that," Bob replied as he and Histoire wandered down the shopping aisle and walk towards the cold section of the supermarket. It was there that Bob opened one of the store's fridges and grabbed some butter while Histoire merely observed the area as to where the pudding would be, but after a short while it became apparent that there were no puddings to be seen. That was when Bob decided to give Histoire a piece of advice. "Excuse me, Lady Histoire, have you ever been acquainted with military strategy?"

She shook her head in response, answering many of the red haired man's thoughts. "No, I am not too acquainted with military strategies, I am more used to peaceful plans that help with the governance of Gamindustri and its nations. Why do you ask, though?"

"Because what I have to say will help you in dealing with the problems of the modern age," Bob replied, his gaze sternly fixed in the Tome Fairy's direction. "You see, I was once a soldier, fighting in the war for what I believed in. During all those years of fighting I learned many valuable things, many of which were military strategies that ensured victory from the jaws of defeat. One of these tactics is to cut the head off the snake, which in common terms means to kill or at least defeat the head of the problem. Do you see where I am going with this, Lady Histoire?"

The Planeptunian Oracle nodded, understanding what the yellow eyed man was suggesting. "Yes, I can see where this is heading towards. You are suggesting that I should have someone, or a group of people, track down the Shadow Walker and have him killed. Am I correct in thinking that?"

Bob nodded, almost too enthusiastically in fact. "Exactly. I assume you already know of the Shadow Walker's bounty and how many are attempting to track him down for his head. I suggest that to minimise casualties you should send a team filled with the best fighters and tacticians you can find, for only they could be able to bring down the greatest threat that Gamindustri has ever faced to date. What do you say to that, Lady Histoire? Do you think it would be worth a shot? Less Guild Members and Agents who have turned into bounty hunters would lose their lives."

It sounded like a promising idea, even if it was something that Histoire did not want to think about too much. The Tome Fairy knew full well about the situation with Brian's bounty, she was also aware that people who turned to bounty hunting would inevitably get themselves either hurt or killed thanks to their eagerness to fight Brian for the reward of one million credits, although the bounty itself could be a whole lot higher than that. However, was it really necessary to send a crack team of people to go after the young man and eliminate him once and for all? In the back of her mind, Historie still reasoned with herself that Brian the Shadow Walker was the one who was prophesied in the Ancient Prophecy of the Shadow Walker, who was foretold to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to destroy the darkness. How the mighty had fallen indeed.

In the end, after several more minutes of dedicated thought, with Bob glancing periodically at her from time to time, the hard pressed and overworked Oracle of Planeptune decided that the safety of the nation, and all of Gamindustri, mattered more than the Prophecy of the Shadow Walker. After all, someone once said that those who followed a prophecy were merely mad. It was with this in mind that she decided to give Bob the red haired man her answer. "I know that a part of me will regret it forever, but I have decided to take your suggestion on board and see what I can do with it, at least I will give it some more thought anyway when I return to the Basilicom and discuss it with the rest of the staff."

"If you are going to consider it when you return to the Basilicom then that is good enough for me," the yellow eyed man said, seeming ot be rather pleased with the response he received from the Tome Fairy of Planeptune. "Just know that I don't only speak for myself, I am speaking more many people not only in Planeptune, but throughout all of Gamindustri. We all need justice, we deserve that much, Lady Histoire. Even if you decide to not have the specific chosen team kill the Shadow Walker when they see him but instead capture him, that would be good enough for most people."

Histoire nodded to confirm everything that she had just been informed about by Bob. "Very well then, Bob. Thank you for bringing this to me, and… thanks for the advice in general, I think it is nice to have some ideas and advice from someone who is not a member of the Basilicom staff and is not in a position of power. Thank you."

"Your welcome. It's good to help out every now and then, especially if it is a leader who needs it." The red haired man seemed pleased with the response, as the smile on his face proved. The blonde fairy then continued to gather several more ingredients, some of which she doubted were needed but could come in handy down the track later on, yet there was still no sign of any puddings to be found. Well, it was not as if she was going to eat any, at least that was what Historie reasoned to herself anyway.

After several more minutes of silence and shopping, it was time to call it a day, and to reflect on all that had been said previously. Once both Histoire and Bob were out of the supermarket and back into the main part of the mall, with bags full of items bought from before, the two looked at each other and parted ways with polite words. "Well, thank you for the advice and for accompanying me today, Bob. It was… interesting to say the least," Historie said before the two parted ways.

"Same here, it was good to meet and talk to a leading member of Planeptune," Bob replied enthusiastically. "You should get out more and speak to the people of this fine nation, that could also help you with all the problems that are plaguing today."

Histoire bowed her head downwards politely before floating away atop her tome, her direction was back towards the Basilicom, her thoughts were deeply focused on the suggestions and information that had been given to her by practically a stranger, a friendly stranger at that. It was quite indeed a great chance meeting Histoire thought to herself as she made her way back home. The Tome Fairy of Planeptune could not have been more wrong. It was no chance meeting that she and Bob had met, quite the opposite in fact, for it was meant to happen.

Bob continued to stare at Histoire as she made her way out of the mall and back onto the street, where the sky was still dark and rain had begun to fall down upon the land. The red haired man grinned malevolently at the Oracle as a shade of red flashed through his eyes, then he began to walk off outside into the rain. Unlike any other passer-by who walked or ran past the strange, yellow eyed man, he seemed to be ignoring the rain altogether as he made his way towards an alleyway. Upon entering a shadow covered area of the alleyway, Bob disappeared into it as some sort of magical energy began to circle around him. The redhead then found himself in what looked like another plane of reality, or at least something similar anyway. It was then that the magical energy disappeared as 'Bob' was now wearing a dark, black cloak along with a black hood that covered his head, then there was the chainmail, black rags that covered it, leather pieces and a dark steel helmet with spikes.

As the darkness grew around him he knelt down as four moving shadows appeared form the darkness, then the four shadows began to take a humanoid shape, their gazes directed towards the kneeling man. It was difficult to see who or what they were, considering that they were simply shadow thoughts, plus they would see each other and 'Bob' the same way as well. The larger and more powerful of the dark shades looked down at the hooded man and spoke in a deathly voice that would have chilled the blood of any living beings who would have been nearby. "Report," was all he said.

"I have informed the enemy on what to do, giving hints and suggestions on how it should be handled. She bought it, completely and utterly. If the plan works it should allow our own plans to be initiated much more easier," the armoured man responded, raising his head to gaze at the powerful, ghostly shade.

"Excellent. Our enemy will be scattered and divided while their leaders are helpless from a deep loss of faith," the power shade said, pleased with what had happened. "Now comes the next stage of our plan. I want you to return to the ruins of Haruno Village and ready your forces on standby, then I want you to keep sowing dissent not only in Planeptune but throughout all of Gamindustri."

"And what of us, master?" one of the shades asked, its voice belonging to someone who sounded as if he had severe burning.

"You three will continue with the tasks I have already given you. Outmanoeuvre the Goddesses, gain the trust and loyalty of their forces and closest advisers, then wait for my signal. Gamindustri will be ours. A new age will dawn and darkness will cover this land, and I will finally fulfil my own duty," the power, ghostly shade responded, hinting that there was more to what was going on than simply what was already happening. "Now go, do what must be done."

'Bob' stood up and grinned at the large, powerful shade before leaving. "Very well then. We will not fail you, Agandur, Dark Lord of all things."

* * *

The rain was still falling down lightly upon Planeptune as two powerful and, in some cases, famous figures walked down the path towards the Basilicom, both sharing a single umbrella as they passed on by people who made their way back and forth from whatever they were up to. These two figures were none other than IF the Wind Walker of Gamindustri and Victor the Wind Mage, and both of them were quite famous in their own right. Things seemed pretty serious with the two of them from the grim and stern looks on their faces, but in reality they were afraid of what was going to happen. Plus there was another matter that was heavy on their minds at the same time.

"Y-You know, it was not completely necessary to use me as a seat while we were… you know, k-kissing," Victor informed IF in a hushed tone, his cheeks blushing a light shade of red. A far cry from the Guild Agent's expression soon afterwards.

"I-I-I was just caught up in th-the m-moment is all, w-we haven't been all that intimate like what happened before Histoire called us," IF explained, her cheeks blushing a light shade of red. "B-Besides, we don't usually get intimate l-like that."

"Well, n-not often anyway," the Wind Mage corrected her, which only resulted in silence between the two of them, which only made it even more awkward for them.

However, IF could not help but smile as her thoughts turned towards the memories she and Victor had created together with all the dates they had together, coupled with Guild quests as well. It was all she had ever wanted to do with Victor ever since she fell in love with him all those years ago. _I've enjoyed out time together, I really have. I…_ _I love him, no matter what. I wonder, is this how Blanc feels about Brian still? If so then she has some major issues. Better to not delve to deep into that territory, I remember the last time I saw someone talk to her about that topic._ _It was like seeing Plutia get all sadistic._

Eventually IF and Victor arrived at the entrance of the Basilicom, where the few Basilicom Guards were located, and they appeared to be affected by the grim weather like several other people throughout the city. It was rather saddening for IF and Victor to see. The two famous members of the Planeptune Guild kept close together as they walked down the hallway and entered the glass panelled elevator, their gazes wandering from each other to the dark clouded scenery outside back to each other, when they then chuckled as their gazes fell upon each other. "Well, things have been… interesting, haven't they?" IF asked with a sigh.

Victor nodded, his usual stoic expression breaking out into a fond smile. "Yeah, it sure has been an interesting experience, both good and bad. It's been good sharing this whole experience with you, IF, really it has," the Wind Mage said in response, which only made the Guild Agent break out into an embarrassed state, then the top hat wearing man continued speaking with an important question. "Also, um… h-how is our r-relationship going?"

"Huh? Our relationship? Well, I think it's going pretty well. It's rather slow, but we seem to be going well with that so far," the brunette responded, keeping her gaze directed towards the young man as she gave him her answer. Swiftly afterwards IF's cheeks reddened once more and her gaze fell to the floor while she twiddled her fingers about. "Do you… maybe… want to s-s-speed it up a bit?"

Victor could not help but feel a little bit excited with the suggestion. They had been taking it rather slowly for the past year, in fact all they had done together was several dates, Guild quests, watch films together, hold hands and the occasional kiss. "W-Well, I wouldn't m-mind it if we speeded things up a bit," the Wind Mage replied honsetly, rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous expression.

That was when the elevator stopped moving and the doors slid open. IF and Victor silently agreed to talk about their romantic life later, more specifically after they met Histoire and see what was bothering her, if anything was actually bothering the Tome Fairy at all; the way she spoke down the phone indicated that there was at least something going on with her. As soon as IF and Victor reached and entered Histoire's office they saw the Oracle upon her tome in front of the desk, her expression was grim and full of sorrow; it seemed that in this state she was unable to realise that IF and Victor had arrived. The Wind Mage looked over at the Guild Agent for some advice, yet it was not forthcoming. Soon enough the cane-wielding man politely knocked on Histoire's desk, stirring her from whatever thoughts were going through her mind.

"Oh, Victor, IF, sorry not noticing you," the Tome Fairy apologised while feeling quite embarrassed about it.

"That's okay, Lady Histoire, it does not matter," Victor reassured her with a wave of his hand. "However, you seem to be troubled about something. What is the matter?"

Histoire sighed, glanced around the are of a short moment, then looked back at Victor and IF, who were waiting patiently for a reply. Then Histoire finally explaiend everything. "It is about Brian. I was taking a break earlier today when I accidentally bumped into a man named Bob, after a bit of talking he accompanied me into the supermarket to buy some cooking ingredients. I listened to what he had to say about the current state of things in Gamindustri, and they were making him afraid of everything. After some more talking I learned that he had been a soldier who fought in the war, which I can only guess is the Console War. Well, Bob explained that to cure the troubles of this world we would have to 'cut the head of the snake'."

Victor's expression turned grim and sour as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, but it was IF who made the first reply. "Cut the head of the snake? Isn't that a military strategy?"

"Yes it is, IF, and I think I know what this 'Bob' person was referring to. Brian is the snake as all troubles were caused by his actions a year ago, but if he were to be 'removed' then those troubles would cease to be over time," Victor explained to the Wind Walker. "So if that is the case, then I presume me and IF here are the blade that cuts the snake's head off, am I right?"

Histoire nodded, although it was easy to see that it was a painful decision and one that did not sit well with her. "Yes, that is exactly what I want you two to do. If you do manage to find Brian then deal with him as you see fit. You two are the only ones who can do this. The other Goddesses are weakened by a lack of Faith while the bounty hunters are disappearing at an alarming rate, only the two of you are capable of defeating Brian the Shadow Walker as of now. Now go, please."

Victor and IF nodded and left Histoire's office, noticing that the Tome Fairy seemed to be regretting the decision in some small way already. As they walked back towards the elevator, IF decided to make her feelings about the situation very clear. "I don't like this, Victor. I mean, I… still have fond memories of Brian back before all this crap happened. Besides, isn't he supposed to be a prophesied hero?"

"You have misread it. It does not say anywhere that Brian is, or was, meant to be a hero. Also, not all prophecies come true, I learned that from all the books and old tomes I read during my lonely travels," the Wind Mage responded as soon as they entered the elevator. "I have a plan: you go and get Compa for the journey – we will undoubtedly need her medical expertise – and I will get some supplies. We'll meet back out the front of the Basilicom in forty minutes."

IF nodded in agreement to the plan, knowing that Compa would be needed and that Victor would be best to gather the right amount and type of supplies. But in the back of the Guild Agent's mind she could not help but think about what would happen if she, Victor and possibly Compa catch up with Brian, and the battle that could very well occur. _Brian and me. Shadow Walker of the Ancients against Wind Walker of Gamindustri. I don't know if I can do it._

* * *

 **A/N: Hello there, readers, it's been a while since I last updated this story, and for that I completely apologise. I do have other commitments besides this fanfic, which is quite obvious really. I do also apologise for this chapter being smaller than the others, but I was not completely sure what to put in it after suffering from Writer's Block for so long, and I'm stumped as to what is going to be in the next chapter, so expect longer update delays. However, I am trying my best to get back into this story as I have had some ideas about future chapters, but it remains to be seen if I can even reach those points. Anyway, thanks for reading as well as keeping your sanity for waiting this long for a god-damn update. Regardless, have a good day if possible.**

 **Chapter 11:**


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